Wood County Residents Decide the Future of CTH AA

Nekoosa, Wis (WFHR, WIRI) –The Wood County Highway Department held a meeting in late August to hear from residents if closing the road permanently would be a possibility. CTH AA closed in June 2024 after a heavy rainfall revealed the damage. Crews discovered a significant portion of the large culvert running under the road has failed.

The structure is failing

Wood County Highway Department Commissioner Roland Hawk said the 14 foot long metal pipe was last inspected in 2016. At that time, the pipe showed some surface corrosion, but nothing that warranted a replacement. After the heavy rain in June this year left a hole in the road, crews repaired the hole and did a full inspection of the pipe. They found that 60 to 80 percent of the pipe is corroded at the waterline. This means there’s very little integrity in the culvert and Commissioner Hawk said they would like to replace it with a bridge.

Lynn Creek

The culvert conveys water from Lynn Creek into the Wisconsin River. Lynn Creek was named to honor M.H. Lynn who originally owned the site. The creek is a tributary that runs through several farming areas and cranberry marshes on its way to the Wisconsin River south of Nekoosa. Hawk said the pipe conveys quite a bit of water. They would like to replace the current failed structure with a bridge. CTH AA is a low use highway with around 300 or less cars that travel it per day. 

August 20th meeting

The public meeting held at the Nekoosa Community Center on August 20th gave Commissioner Hawk insight on how people felt about the possible closure of the road. He said they got a pretty clear message that folks in the area would like to see CTH AA remain open. County Trunk Highway JJ is less than a mile away and runs parallel to the other road. Hawk said people would still be able to get around and get to their homes using CTH JJ, however, CTH AA runs along the Wisconsin River. People were clear at the meeting, they would like to see the road reopen in the near future.

What will it cost?

Roland Hawk said they’re in the preliminary stages of estimating the cost of the project. They’ll need to replace the structure and do some roadway work. They’ve received one estimate of a structure similar in size to what will be needed. The cost for that, including the engineering, would be around $500,000. The approach work needed on the north and south roadways leading to the bridge would cost about the same amount. Hawk said a very preliminary cost estimate is around $1 million. He said he’s pursuing options to secure funding. That way, projects already scheduled for 2025 and 2026 will not be impacted. If he’s not able to secure the sources of revenue for 2025, the CTH AA project will happen in 2026.