Walking the line

Frank and his crew stand tall as Marquette’s little big men

By Janine Anderson

Mark Johnson, left, and Tom Johnson, both employees of Century Fence, apply a lane line on an eastbound offramp on the Marquette Interchange on Nov. 9. Photos by Scott Anderson

The cranes and concrete get all the attention as the new Marquette Interchange goes up above downtown Milwaukee.

They get the glory as drivers see signs of progress and hope that some day soon the ramp they need will reopen.

But between the workers laying the concrete and the motorists waiting to take to the roadway, Larry Frank has a job to do. Frank, a highway superintendent with Century Fence Co. of Waukesha, lays the stripes that mark the new lanes.

There’s power in those lines. That thin layer of reflective epoxy stands between order and chaos, between pass and no pass, between my lane and yours. They are the written rules of the road painted brightly on concrete.

Because the interchange is so big and such a vital piece of the state’s traffic flow, there was no way to shut the whole thing down, raze it and rebuild it. Instead, demolition and reconstruction came piecemeal, with new ramps going up in old openings, and traffic flowing around everything for as long as possible.

Mark Johnson sweeps a freshly applied lane line on an eastbound offramp on the Marquette Interchange on Nov. 9. Sweeping the line evens out an application of tiny glass beads designed to reflect light.

When Frank started work on the Marquette project, he said, he was as confused as everyone else.

“First, it was, ‘Where in the world is all this going to go?’” he said. “Now, it’s not so intimidating. I can see how it’s going to come together. Maybe the traveling public doesn’t yet, but we do.”

Unlike the drivers whizzing past and through the construction zones, Frank and his crew take things slow and get a close look at the miles of concrete that soar above the city. And once the roadway is ready, they come in.

They plan out exactly where the lines will go, measuring the lanes, laying markers down. And they do it all by hand and on foot.

“When we’re laying it out, it’s all walking,” Frank said.

Once that work is done, Frank’s crew brings in the trucks. A camera mounted on a truck picks up the marks the team laid on the road and puts down the striping. A stencil truck comes through for the giant pavement arrows and crosswalks.

So far, Frank said, the bulk of Century Fence’s work on the project has been temporary striping, with some permanent striping on ramps and streets. But over the next year, his crew will be busy.

“It’s a very long contract over a period of years with a lot of work,” Frank said. “We’ve got to wait until they get it to a certain point. You don’t want permanent striping until everything is just about built.”

There’s about a year left to go before the whole project is complete, and as each of the ramps, core connectors and flyovers is finished, Frank and his crew will be there, walking the road and striping the lanes.

That’s when their job gets really satisfying, Frank said.

“I enjoy everything I do, [especially] getting it laid out to see how it all comes together,” he said. “With the Marquette, it will be unique to see how all these ramps and bridges come together. It should be interesting, fun and intriguing.”

While their job is one small part of a giant whole, Frank said they take pride in it.

“I love being involved with this one,” he said. “It’s the largest job ever put out by the state of Wisconsin. Subcontractors are really peanuts on it.

“I can sit back and say, ‘I striped this. I was part of it.’”

He might say it, but don’t look for proof. In his 30 years in the business, Frank said, he has always resisted the urge to add his own little reflective tag in some small corner of a project.

The miles of stripes, he said, are enough for him.