Underwood Creek Parkway had been in bad shape for years.
The county road between the Wisconsin Lutheran College athletic facilities and Hansen Golf Course had a pavement rating of 38 on a scale of 0 to 100 in 2017. Reconstruction was proposed, but the work was put on hold until the state finished an Interstate 41 project that included the overpass that cuts across the middle section of the county parkway.
After receiving $278,000 in state highway funds, the county finally gave the green light to begin rebuilding Underwood Creek Parkway in July 2025, with a total estimated cost of $3.8 million.
The road has been closed to through traffic since then, as crews tore up and removed the old road surface. Motorists still have been able to navigate around the heavy machinery to access the golf course, as well as the county's Wil-o-Way Underwood facility and Firefly Ridge community gardens up the hill. The Wisconsin Lutheran facilities remain accessible from the other end of the road.
This month, though crews have yet to put down new pavement, dirt and gravel have been leveled and packed and new concrete curbs and gutters installed. The road construction is scheduled to be completed by November and final work, including landscaping, is due to wrap by summer 2026.
When the road reopens, however, it will no longer be a through street for motorists.
The county, after seeking input from the public in 2024, chose a design option that effectively dead-ends the road in both directions — at Firefly Ridge when driving west of the golf course and at the entrance to the Wisconsin Lutheran facilities on the south end.
Though cars won't be able to get through, the county is turning the half-mile middle segment into a dedicated bike and pedestrian path, an extension of the Oak Leaf Trail, allowing recreational users to bypasses the busy Swan Boulevard to the east.
"We're thrilled about the potential improvements, and your support means the world to us as we work towards making Underwood Creek Parkway even better," the county says on its project webpage.
