Wisconsin Highways

US-53 Eau Claire Bypass Construction Photos, May 29, 2004

Photo of US-53 Eau Claire Bypass under construction
View of the US-53 freeway bypass of Eau Claire under construction on May 29, 2004. Photo taken from the CTH-A/Highland Ave overpass in Altoona looking southerly. Photo ©2004 by Christopher J. Bessert. All Rights Reserved. Photos may not be used in any manner without prior written permission.

Photo of US-53 Eau Claire Bypass under construction
View of US-53 freeway from the CTH-A/Highland Ave overpass taken on May 29, 2004. At the crest of the rise in the distance is the Union Pacific Railroad overpass. Photo ©2004 by Christopher J. Bessert. All Rights Reserved. Photos may not be used in any manner without prior written permission.

Photo of US-53 Eau Claire Bypass under construction
Another shot of the same location as the previous one above, zoomed into the distance more. Photo ©2004 by Christopher J. Bessert. All Rights Reserved. Photos may not be used in any manner without prior written permission.

Photo of US-53 Eau Claire Bypass under construction
View looking north along the US-53 freeway under construction on May 29, 2004 from the Fuller Ave overpass about 1/2 mile north of the STH-312/CTH-Q North Crossing interchange. Photo ©2004 by Christopher J. Bessert. All Rights Reserved. Photos may not be used in any manner without prior written permission.

Photo of US-53 Eau Claire Bypass under construction
Fuller Ave overpass spanning the US-53 freeway east of Eau Claire, taken looking east on May 29, 2004. At this point, the freeway lanes were graded with the sub-base in place, but paving had not yet taken place. Photo ©2004 by Christopher J. Bessert. All Rights Reserved. Photos may not be used in any manner without prior written permission.

Photo of US-53 Eau Claire Bypass under construction
A view of the southern large cut created for the US-53 freeway in the City of Eau Claire. Photo taken on May 29, 2004 from Fuller Ave east of the new freeway looking southerly toward the new North Crossing interchange. Photo ©2004 by Christopher J. Bessert. All Rights Reserved. Photos may not be used in any manner without prior written permission.

Photo of US-53 Eau Claire Bypass under construction
Another view of the US-53 freeway taken on May 29, 2004 from Fuller Ave looking northerly. Photo ©2004 by Christopher J. Bessert. All Rights Reserved. Photos may not be used in any manner without prior written permission.

Photo of US-53 Eau Claire Bypass under construction
View of the US-53 freeway under construction in Lake Hallie northeast of Eau Claire on May 29, 2004. In this photo, taken from Melby St looking northerly, shows the northbound on-ramp from Melby St. Also shown is a rather sternly-worded sign stating: "No Trespassing. State of Wis—Owner. Violators will be prosecuted, Sec 943.13 Wis Statues." It would seem that WisDOT is serious about people not taking scenic trips down the uncompleted freeway... Photo ©2004 by Christopher J. Bessert. All Rights Reserved. Photos may not be used in any manner without prior written permission.

Photo of US-53 Eau Claire Bypass under construction
A view of the US-53 freeway looking southerly from Melby St on May 29, 2004. This photo also shows the northbound off-ramp from the new freeway to Melby St. Visible in the distance is the northern of the two major cuts created for the project. Photo ©2004 by Christopher J. Bessert. All Rights Reserved. Photos may not be used in any manner without prior written permission.

Photo of US-53 Eau Claire Bypass under construction
This somewhat grainy photo shows the temporary overhead sign erected along northbound US-53/STH-124/Hastings Way approaching the CTH-OO intersection. From 2003 to June 2005, US-53 traffic was diverted off Hastings Way, travelling easterly via a relocated CTH-OO to the southern end of the completed US-53 freeway. Prior to 2003, US-53 continued straight through this intersection for an additional half mile to the original US-53 trumpet interchange, which was removed for this project. Photo ©2004 by Christopher J. Bessert. All Rights Reserved. Photos may not be used in any manner without prior written permission.

Photo of US-53 Eau Claire Bypass under construction
Although marred by the raindrops on the car windshield, the sgns on this overhead assembly were changed in 2003 to indicate US-53's temporary turn at CTH-OO to meet up with the southern end of the completed bypass at the time. Today, STH-124 turns easterly via the relocated CTH-OO route, shown here as part of US-53 to Rice Lake and Superior. Photo ©2004 by Christopher J. Bessert. All Rights Reserved. Photos may not be used in any manner without prior written permission.

Photo of US-53 Eau Claire Bypass under construction
Looking easterly along the temporary route of US-53 (relocated CTH-OO) in Lake Hallie at the southern end of the completed US-53 freeway, taken on May 29, 2004. At the time, northbound US-53 traffic turned right onto what is now the southbound US-53 on-ramp, as the ramp was configured to feed into the northbound lanes of the new freeway. This was done to eliminate crossing the "streams of traffic" from US-53 while the remainder of the Eau Claire bypass was being constructed. Prior to the completion of BYP US-53 from the CTH-OO interchange southerly to the STH-312/CTH-Q/North Crossing interchange in 2005, the temporary ramp was eliminated and traffic heading toward Rice Lake and Superior was then routed via the "regular" on-ramp from this highway. Photo ©2004 by Christopher J. Bessert. All Rights Reserved. Photos may not be used in any manner without prior written permission.

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