Road Construction - Washburn Chamber of Commerce

Washburn Road Construction 2024

Updated as of 8/16/24

Road Construction for phase one of the Bayfield St. project started in March. The detour route will be open through November and traffic should follow that route. There is signage on the route to help you navigate to the businesses on Bayfield St.. Additional signage has been placed on the avenues to help direct you once you are off the detour route and on the side streets. Not all cross streets are open to access the north side of the city and the businesses on that side of Bayfield St. you may need to park and then walk to the next open cross street. All businesses are open during the construction.

The Chamber has put together a map to guide you to your favorite Washburn businesses as well. Click the image to the right to view and or download a copy. You can pick up physical copies at the chamber office. They will also be available at local businesses, hotels and visitor information centers.

As new information becomes available we will update this page. We will also include an update in our newsletter that goes out each week on Thursday afternoon. Scroll to the very bottom of this page to sign up if you would like to be added to the list.

Please use our contact page if you have questions or need assistance. We will do our best to provide an answer or get you in touch with someone who can help.

You can find more information about Washburn road construction on the cities website HERE, or on the Wisconsin DOT website HERE.

Click the image to download a phase one detour map.

Support Local Business during Construction

There are many businesses in Washburn that have storefronts on Bayfield St. Many rely on the traffic that passes by their businesses. This summer is proving to be a challenge and these businesses need all the support they can get in order to make it through the slow summer.

The Washburn Lions Club has put together a fun promotion to help stimulate business on Bayfield St. and for those who are seeing a drop in sales due to the road work. Form now until August 24th, 2004 you can purchase a stamp card from the chamber or any of the participating businesses for $10. When you make a qualifying purchase at any of the participating businesses you get a stamp on your card. If you et 5 stamps you will be entered into a drawing for gift cards to our local businesses. If you get 10 stamps then you are entered in to the 50/50 drawing. The more cards purchased the more you could win! Winning tickets will be pulled at the Music in the Parks concert at Legion Park on Aug 28th. Get rewarded for the shopping you will already be doing and help the local businesses at the same time. Click the image to the right to see all the details and the participating businesses.

Washburn Road Construction Updates

Things are moving right along. Currently 8th Ave W. is the only cross street open between 11th and 2nd Ave W. 6th will open once the concrete is properly finished. The Sidewalk on both sides of Bayfield St. is closed due to grading and prepping for re-installation, pedestrians should go up or down a block to Pine St. or Omaha to get around.

Now that work has begun on the send part of phase 1 to get to the Fat Radish or Dollar General you must cross Bayfield St. at 8th Ave W. and then go down Pine St. You will turn left onto 9th Ave W. to get to the fat Radish and you will need to turn left on 11th Ave W. for Dollar General.

As a reminder there is fresh concrete going down daily between 8th Ave and 2nd Ave W. We encourage everyone to stay out of the work-zone at this time to prevent walking on areas that have not cured yet.

Here are a few more updates:

Washington Ave from Omaha to the alley is still closed. You will still need to access Coco’s & Chippewa Valley Bank from the alley off of 2nd Ave W.
We posted a cool video that provides a bird’s eye view of the work area on Facebook a few months ago. You can watch it HERE.
Signage has been added to the Avenues. We are doing our best to keep up with signage issues. Please understand that we are an office of 2, and we are doing what we can in addition to our normal work load to make sure people know how to navigate around this project. It’s also important to note that the signage is meant to help visitors navigate off the detour to the businesses on Bayfield St. There are constant daily changes that make providing signage difficult. One day a sign may not be accurate and the next day it is correct again. We cannot create a sign for every possible scenario. This is where patients and understanding can go a long way.

Detour Route

Main Route

If you are coming from Ashland, the detour starts at Hwy 13 and Bigelow St.. You will turn right onto Bigelow St. and follow the signs. The end of the route is on the corner of Bayfield ST. (Hwy 13) and 1st Ave W. That is where you will enter if coming from Bayfield. The map on the left shows you the full detour for this phase of the project

Entering and Exiting the Detour

We noticed that a lot of people are confused about how to enter and exit the detour from the East end. The image to the right shows the flow of traffic and where people need to stop. The double stop signs in front of the chamber office are NOT suggestions! Please pay attention if you are on Bayfield St. between 2nd & 1st Ave W Headed towards Bayfield. You must stop as oncoming traffic does not have to stop.

Also, Please note that there is no parking along the detour route. This includes on 1st Ave W. next to the chamber. However, you can drive and park on the 100 block of Bayfield St. for the duration of the project. The detour ahead signs are standard but you can still utilize this section while the work is being done.

Signage has changed at the West entrance to the detour (coming off HWY 13 from Ashland). The image to the right was created to help you understand how that intersection is working. If you are turning onto Bigelow (the detour) from the highway you do not need to stop just slow down and make that right turn. If you need to make a left off the highway you will need to stop and wait until the traffic turning onto the highway from Bigelow clears. If you are exiting the detour onto the highway or if you are going straight across the highway you do not have a stop and you should continue to keep traffic moving. People have been stopping there and it backs up the flow of traffic.

Accessing Businesses in the Current Work Zone

Washington Ave, is now closed through Pine St. You can only access and exit the Cenex Gas Station from 2nd Ave W. until the work on Washington Ave is completed. 8th Ave. W. is currently the only cross street in the work zone.

Coco’s & Chippewa Valley Bank are still by the closure of Washington Ave & Bayfield St. Currently, you can still only access them through the alley off of 2nd Ave W. or by walking to them on Bayfield St..

If you are going to the IGA please be sure to enter the grocery store parking lot from 3rd Ave. W.

Washburn Road Construction Fast Facts

General Information

The detour route is not open to ATVs, or UTVs. ATVs & UTVs can use open cross streets to get the the trail on the South side of Bayfield St.
Reach out to the city or the chamber if you have any questions or concerns and we will do our best to help.
8th Ave W & 2nd Ave W are the designated open cross streets at this time.
The businesses are doing their best to navigate this disruption. Please be patient with them as they work out the logistics. Also please continue to support them while this work is taking place.

Driving Information

The speed limit on the detour is 25 miles per hour. Law enforcement will be monitoring the road and they will give tickets. Tickets in a construction zone are doubled!
The lettering on the signs on the detour are set to WISDOT standards for the posted speed limit. If you can’t read them you are going too fast.
There are a lot of people not following the posted traffic signage. It is getting better each day but it is still happening. As you drive through the city pretend you are in a new place that you have never visited before and look at all the posted signage. We all work on muscle memory, also known as driving on auto pilot, in places we know and are used to. Doing that now could get you a ticket or could lead to an accident.

Parking Information

You can park and drive on Bayfield St. between 1st Ave W & 2nd Ave W. This is for business traffic only. If you are not visiting a business on that street please stay on the detour until 1st Ave W or join the detour at 1st Ave. W. If you are on Bayfield St. between 1st & 2nd Ave W and are headed towards Ashland you will need to turn right onto 2nd Ave W between Cozy Corner Guitar and the Cenex Gas Station to get onto Washington Ave or left to get onto Omaha and the detour. If 2nd Ave W is closed you may need to make a U-Turn on Bayfield St. to get back out.
You can not park on the detour route.
Parking on the avenues is discouraged especially the ones that are not open as a cross street. Parking for Bayfield St. businesses is available on Omaha from 11th Ave W to 3rd Ave W.

Business Information

If you are a business owner please contact the chamber with questions about signage. We are handling that for everyone including non-members. Talk with us before doing anything with signs, we can help save you a lot of time and money.
The meetings for businesses with the contractors and the project coordinators have been postponed until there is enough information available to make the meetings productive.
Reach out to the city or the chamber if you have any questions or concerns and we will do our best to help.
If you need a graphic to help show customers how to get to your business reach out to the chamber and we can create one for you.
The next business meeting will be held when we are closer to when the concrete will be poured.