What is new for Northwoods Drifter in 2026
If you’re heading through Rhinelander this spring and summer, you’ll want to leave a few extra minutes for your commute. The Wisconsin Department of Transportation is replacing two busy stoplights on US Highway 8 with modern roundabouts, part of a $6.1 million upgrade that promises safer roads but means months of detours.
The intersections at Highway 17 South and County G will both get single-lane roundabouts starting in late April. Construction runs through September, right through peak tourism season in the Northwoods.
It’s a big project, but one that local officials say will pay dividends for years to come.
Rhinelander already has one roundabout — the Highway 8 and Highway 47 junction that opened back in 2019. That intersection set the standard, and WisDOT liked what they saw.
“The reasons those intersections were chosen to be roundabouts was for a variety of reasons including cost savings, safety considerations and less impacts on the surrounding properties,” says Michelle Guoin, WisDOT’s construction project manager for the Highway 8 work.
The safety numbers tell a compelling story. Studies show roundabouts dramatically reduce severe crashes, especially the kind that happen at signalized intersections.
High-speed T-bone collisions — the crashes that send people to the hospital or worse — virtually disappear at roundabouts. Drivers slow down naturally as they navigate the circle, and the design eliminates those dangerous right-angle impacts.
The Highway 17 South intersection has seen elevated crash rates compared to similar junctions across the state, making it a prime candidate for the upgrade.
Here’s where patience becomes a Northwoods virtue. The project unfolds in three phases: repaving roads, widening lanes, and building the actual roundabouts.
Traffic on Highway 8 will be detoured straight through downtown Rhinelander. The route takes you on Kemp Street, Pelham Street, Courtney Street to Lincoln, then back out on Highway 17.
“I think it’s going to be worth it. In the end it’ll be a smoother ride. Less delay through those intersections, switching from signalized to the roundabouts.” — Michelle Guoin, WisDOT Project Manager
Construction starts April 20 and wraps up by September — a five-month stretch that tests everyone’s patience but keeps the work contained to warmer weather.
WisDOT plans to maintain at least one lane of access throughout the project. Businesses along the corridor will stay reachable, though you might need to take a different route to get there.
Flaggers and temporary signals will manage traffic at key points.
The roundabouts are just part of a larger rehabilitation project. Three miles of Highway 8 pavement need serious attention — cracking, rutting, and winter damage have taken their toll.
Anyone who’s driven that stretch knows the rough patches. Ice tenting during winter freeze-thaw cycles creates those bumps and heaves that jar your coffee out of the cup holder.
Additional work includes:
This continues a pattern of Highway 8 improvements across Oneida and Lincoln Counties. Segments from County G to County P wrapped up pavement work in 2024, and the stretch from North Rifle Road to Highway 47 finished in 2023.
WisDOT didn’t just roll into town with blueprints. Public meetings started back in January 2023 at Rhinelander City Hall, where locals weighed in on different options.
Longer turn lanes? Signal upgrades? Roundabouts? Community members got to voice their preferences and concerns.
A follow-up meeting last November laid out the final 2026 construction scope. The Oneida County Highway Department signed off on the roundabouts at their November 2025 meeting.
No real estate acquisitions are planned, which means property owners won’t lose land to the project — a big deal in a region where people treasure every acre.
Once the orange barrels disappear and the asphalt cures, drivers should notice immediate improvements. Roundabouts keep traffic moving steadily without the stop-and-go rhythm of traffic lights.
During off-peak hours — which is most of the time up here — you won’t sit at a red light waiting for nobody. You’ll yield, merge, and keep rolling.
The safety gains matter most. Fewer severe crashes mean fewer families dealing with tragedy, fewer emergency room visits, and lower insurance costs across the board.
Cost savings extend beyond construction too. Roundabouts don’t need electricity to run traffic signals, and there are no signal heads or controllers to maintain. Over decades, those savings add up.
Highway 8 serves as a vital east-west corridor through the Northwoods, connecting Rhinelander to communities in Lincoln County and beyond. Better pavement and safer intersections benefit everyone who calls this region home — and the tourists who visit our lakes and forests every summer.
Come September, when the last cone gets packed away, this stretch of Highway 8 should serve the community well for the next 20 years. That’s worth a few months of detours, ya know?
Written by
Mike has been coming up or living in the Northwoods since his childhood. He is also an avid outdoorsman, writer and supper club aficionado.
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