Travelers & businesses already feeling improvement as County N Interchange reopens
LITTLE CHUTE, Wis. (WFRV) – The County N Interchange on I-41 in Little Chute has reopened after being closed for three months due to the I-41 expansion project. For drivers and businesses alike, it could not have come soon enough.
"I come up here every week. Been doing this route for about nine years," Jason McCullough, a truck driver for NEMA out of Atlanta, said. "It's a lot better when it's open, and the trucks can get in and out and get fuel and everything."
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He was tired of navigating the detour to get to the Moasis Travel Plaza, which would otherwise be just a few yards from the interchange if it were not for the construction.
"This place is essential to my route and other routes up here because of good parking, fuel, and everything else," McCullough said. "It makes things a lot easier than having to backtrack and go around, especially when you're in a 70-foot vehicle."
The I-41 expansion project will add a third lane in each direction on I-41 along a 23-mile stretch from Appleton to De Pere, making the interstate three lanes wide on each side from Oshkosh to Green Bay.
The project is on schedule, and another overpass will be open this week.
"Hit all of our deadlines and opened up to traffic on time, so everything went pretty smoothly. We just have to put up some sign structures and the signals, but there will be minimal impact on traffic moving forward," WisDOT's I-41 project manager Bryan Learst said. "Capitol Drive, we're working on getting that opened up this week. I had a walk-through this morning with Grand Chute and identified some issues that have to be addressed, and there are just a few contract items that have to be done."
Minor work, like fencing and railing, needs to be completed at the County N Interchange and Rose Hill Rd. Overpass. According to Learst, those additions will not significantly impact traffic.
"Things should be wrapping up in the southern end over the next month or so, but it will be ongoing in the north really until they can't work anymore," Learst said. "It really depends on the weather; if we have a mild winter, then work's really not going to stop. Once the ground starts to freeze, we really don't want to do any earthwork operations on that just because it creates problems in the future."
The spring and summer months are far more conducive for road work, and any delays that occurred in the spring as a result of heavy rain were made up for by a dry summer.
"We've had some poor weather earlier in the spring, not so bad this summer," Learst said. "It was fairly dry for the most part, so weather hasn't been a huge issue."
For as impactful as the 2024 construction season was, Learst says that drivers need to strap in for even more delays and changes in 2025.
"We have several years to go, next year is going to be even more impactful to commutes on I-41," he said. "Pay attention, drive slower, just be mindful where you're at."
Just days after the interchange reopened, Simon's Specialty Cheese is already seeing an uptick in business.
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"There's a lot more foot traffic, people can just drive by whether they're heading to work or to school, just being able to drive over the overpass. Or if they're driving by on 41 it's just a quick swing off the highway," Simon's Specialty Cheese general manager Ben Sohrweide said. "And sometimes they just forgot to take that extra turn off, and they're like 'ah maybe next time,' that sort of thing. So we did miss some business with people not able to find us quick off the highway."
The I-41 construction project will last through 2030.
