Verona Road closed through Sunday, drivers taking alternate routes

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation closed Verona Road from the County Road PD in Fitchburg to the County Road PB exit in Verona Saturday morning for underground utility work.

The closure is expected to last until 2 p.m. Sunday, though Verona Road construction project manager Chris Fredrick said it’s possible crews could have it done sooner. He said travelers should monitor WisDOT’s Verona Road project website for further updates.

Fredrick said the 30-hour closure allows workers to “blitz” and get a great deal of work done at once.

“(It’s) compressing a lot of work that would have probably taken us weeks of night closures to do,” Fredrick said.

In the meantime, drivers will be required to take alternate routes. Fredrick said travelers should plan ahead if they plan to be in the area.

“We are advising people to take extra time if they have destinations near this area as we are anticipating it is going to be congested,” Frederick said. “WisDOT’s recommended detour route is Highway 14 down to the Oregon exit and taking (County Road) M over to County (Road) PB and getting back onto 18/151.”

Fredrick said drivers can also use local roads as detour routes.

One of those drivers adjusting to the closure is Mahdavi Krishnan. The Madison mother said she takes Verona Road every weekend and it took a little extra time to reach her destination.

“We use this road on the weekends to come for classes, so it delays us a little bit,” Krishnan said. “We had to get the kids in a little earlier.”

Krishnan said despite the inconvenience, she hopes all of the delays will be worth it in the end.

“Madison has ‘construction season,’ which is summer, and ‘not construction season,’ so you kind of get used to it, but I hope the roads are better,” she said.

Fredrick said state and local officials are working together to monitor traffic signals along the detour routes to ensure traffic moves smoothly.