U.S. 141 through the village of Crivitz will remain open for most of a three-month project to reconfigure 1.45 miles of the highway from Owl Lane to the South Junction of Old Highway 141, the Wisconsin Department of Transportation said.

The $1.94 million project will convert the existing four-lane roadway through Crivitz to a three-lane roadway with a two-way left turn lane. Work will begin Monday, July 21, with completion targeted for mid-October.

There will be a five-day closure of U.S. 141 for railroad work. During this time, which will be toward the end of the project, a detour will be posted that will utilizes Highway 64 and Marinette County W, WisDOT said. Otherwise, U.S. 141 will be open to at least one travel lane in each direction.

“This improvement is known as a road diet,” WisDot said in a news release. “A road diet consists of converting a four-lane roadway — with two lanes each direction — to a three-lane roadway, one in each direction plus a center left-turn lane.”

The road diet concept reduces the number of vehicle conflict points, WisDOT said. This, in turn, should decrease the number and severity of crashes.

A similar project on U.S. 45 in Eagle River, Wis., reduced crashes on the corridor by 52%, according to a WisDOT project overview.

The change aims to:

— Reduce rear-end crashes of vehicles attempting left turns.

— Reduce right-angle crashes of vehicles attempting to cross multiple lanes.

— Eliminate traffic weaving between lanes to avoid stopped vehicles.

— Provide safer local street intersections and access to businesses.

— Provide traffic calming and consistent traffic speeds.

Other work includes roadway resurfacing and intersection improvements at U.S. 141 and County W and at Old Highway 141 and U.S. 141. The railroad crossing work includes installation of raised medians, rehabilitation of the track, and replacement of existing inlets with flumes.

Northeast Asphalt Inc. of Greenville, Wis., is the prime contractor.

The project has a dedicated 511 Wisconsin Construction website at https://projects.511wi.gov/141crivitz/.

During construction, the project’s construction operations and traffic impacts will be featured weekly on the Northeast Region Weekly Highway Construction Advisory at https://projects.511wi.gov/weeklyupdates-ne/.

Jim Anderson can be reached at 906-774-2772, ext. 85226, or janderson@ironmountaindailynews.com.