A portion of State Highway 59 is expected to shut down within the next couple weeks, making travel difficult for motorists.

Construction to realign the intersection of State Highway 59 and State Highway 89 began in August.

According to the City of Whitewater website, with a bid of $715,091 McGuire Incorporated, Monroe, Wis., was awarded a contract by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation to complete the realignment.

The website said the realignment project is divided into three stages of construction, the first two not requiring a detour.

Stages one and two began in mid August.  Both highways remained open to traffic throughout the first two stages.

According to the city website, on Sept. 6, a house located on the property the new section of State Highway 59 will pass through was torn down as part of the construction process.

Stage three of the project will close State Highway 59 temporarily, blocking traffic south towards the Milton and Janesville areas.

The detour is expected to only last for a few weeks while construction crews work to complete the project, according to the website.

The recommended detour is to take the State Highway 12 bypass to County Highway N, head west on County Highway N, and take State Highway 26 into Milton.

Students can visit the City of Whitewater website at www.whitewater-wi.gov to find construction updates on the State Highway 59 realignment projects along with official notice of when the detour is set to begin under the Department of Public Work’s construction projects and reports sub-page.