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Where's Whitewater? Signs point to city during construction

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WHITEWATER — Getting to and from Whitewater will be a challenge this summer.

The main roads into the city—Highway 59 between Whitewater and Palmyra and Highway 12 between Whitewater and La Grange—will be under construction into the fall.

Both highways will be resurfaced and closed to through traffic during construction.

The Highway 59 project begins Monday.

The first phase of the Highway 12 project from County P to County H begins June 15, and the second phase from County H to Highway 67 begins Aug. 15.

Construction on Highway 59 is expected to be complete by late November. Construction on Highway 12 is expected to be complete by late September.

City and UW-Whitewater officials are working to help visitors get to local businesses and the university.

"It's really unfortunate, particularly because so much of the traffic to and from the city is on these two highways," City Manager Kevin Brunner said.

The city is expecting summer tourists, and the university is expecting thousands of students for summer camps, orientation and registration.

"We knew it was coming, and we knew it was going to be a challenge coming from some directions," said Steve Summers, interim assistant chancellor for student affairs at the university. "We're hoping that by being proactive, the vast majority of people will be able to get there without being too inconvenienced."

The Whitewater Area Chamber of Commerce, Downtown Whitewater Inc. and local businesses are planning promotions around the "Where's Whitewater?" theme, encouraging people to find the city among orange construction barrels and detour signs.

"We're just looking for some fun and creative ways to get people into town," said Deb Williamson, executive director of the chamber.

The state Department of Transportation has marked official detour routes.

But city and university officials worry that the detours—especially the route around Highway 59, which directs drivers to Fort Atkinson before redirecting them back to Whitewater—takes people too far away from the city.

"That's unacceptable from our perspective," Brunner said. "People (who are familiar with the area) are going to take side roads. But for people who aren't familiar with coming here, it's going to be difficult to find us."

The Department of Transportation and city staff have identified several alternative routes motorists can take to get to the Whitewater. Orange and black signs will point drivers down county roads instead of state highways.

The official detour route is suitable for large truck and automobile traffic, but the alternative routes are suitable only for automobile traffic.

Brunner said it's unusual that the main roads into a city would be under construction at the same time, but the state is trying to maximize its use of federal stimulus money, which is funding at least one of the projects.

"There was discussion about delaying one of the projects, but the DOT wants to get these done in a timely manner and use those federal dollars," he said. "There's not much choice we had in the matter."

The Janesville Gazette was not able to reach a representative from the Department of Transportation on Friday.

Brunner said the city and university are hoping their efforts pay off.

"Though this is an extraordinary situation … we're just trying to make sure people know how to get to Whitewater," he said.