Jones Island construction could affect visibility on Hoan Bridge
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) — Drivers on the Hoan Bridge may need to exercise additional caution beginning Monday as a two-year construction project gets underway on Jones Island.
The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District is beginning work on its Milorganite facility, where the fertilizer has been produced for a century.
"Where we make the fertilizer that we have since 1926," MMSD's Bill Graffin said. "Infrastructure doesn't last forever, so it's gotta be fixed and maintained and replaced once in a while."
As part of the work, the way emissions from the facility's dryers are vented will temporarily change.
"There are 12 dryers in there. Six of them are gonna be vented through the roof, directly from the roof. The other six will be vented directly through the smoke stack," Graffin said.
Because of the facility's proximity to the Hoan Bridge and surrounding freeway, MMSD says certain wind conditions could potentially push the emissions toward traffic and create visibility or safety concerns.
"If the water from what's being released would get blown onto the freeway and freeze, that's not good," Graffin said.
The timing of the project is also being closely watched by organizers of the Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon, which is scheduled to take place less than a week after construction begins.
The Hoan Bridge is a centerpiece of the course and one of the race's signature attractions.
"That's a big selling point of participating in our event, is that you do get to see the views from the Hoan Bridge," said Jen Puente with the Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon. "It is our centerpiece, actually, of the Lakefront Marathon."
Puente said organizers are focused on making sure runners remain safe.
"We want to make sure our runners are as safe as possible," Puente said.
MMSD said similar work took place on Jones Island in 2022. During that project, cameras monitored conditions around the bridge, and officials said they did not identify any problems caused by the emissions.
"We had a video camera set up with the live feed that was recorded to the cloud, and we didn't pick up any instances of problems that were caused because of the smoke," Graffin said.
MMSD plans to post warning signs along the freeway during the project. If conditions create a safety concern, the district can shut the roof vents and direct the emissions through the facility's smokestack instead.
As construction begins, marathon organizers are hoping conditions cooperate on race day.
"We're just hoping for great weather," Puente said. "We'll take a sunny and 60-degree day all day long."