At A.W. Oakes & Son, our vibrant yellow fleet is a familiar sight across Southeastern Wisconsin. While we regularly operate within a one-hour radius of our Racine headquarters, there is something truly special about working right in our own backyard.
That is exactly the case for our current $23.3 million State Trunk Highway 31 (STH 31) reconstruction project. Spanning 1.5 miles along Racine’s busy westside corridor, the job site sits less than a mile from our home office. As Project Manager Connor McMahon put it, “We’re legitimately a stone’s throw from the job. These are the towns we live in.”
The Hometown Advantage
Being the prime contractor handling roughly 80% of the project work—including grading, utilities, storm sewers, material processing, and concrete—our proximity yielded a direct benefit for local taxpayers.
Recycling materials nearby and dramatically reducing trucking distances gave Oakes a $1.5 million competitive edge, helping secure the low bid. Company President Max Oakes noted, “Us being so close was that $1.5 million advantage. You have a lot of outside contractors that are further away, buying from different resources. It is a hometown discount, per se.”
Welcoming State Leaders & Industry Partners
Earlier this week, McMahon led a tour of the two-year project alongside leadership from the Wisconsin Transportation Builders Association (WTBA), state subcontractor Payne+Dolan (Walbec Group), and local lawmakers including Wisconsin State Representative Greta Neubauer and Representative Tip McGuire.
The group gathered to discuss the real-world impact of long-term state transportation funding before walking through active operations, including our mobile batch plant and side-lot crushing facilities.
“I love these tours,” said Rep. McGuire, who serves on the legislature’s Joint Finance Committee. “It helps visualize the things we hear from DOT and stakeholders about why the level of funding matters.”
Investing in Equipment & Our Local Workforce
Predictable state infrastructure funding doesn't just keep paychecks coming for our 265 team members—it provides the stability required to invest in tools that deliver better results, faster.
For the STH 31 corridor, Oakes invested in a brand-new, $825,000 Wirtgen SP 25 paver from Roland Machinery Company. This advanced hybrid machine gives our crews the ability to lay curb and gutter, turn around, and pave a complete traffic lane in a single pass.
“The Oakes family is never afraid to invest in equipment and technology, so long as there’s a use,” McMahon shared. “You can keep up on technology, you can keep up on investing in the future when you know the future is strong.”
A Safer Corridor for the Next Two Decades
When major construction wraps up in 2027, the Highway 31 corridor will feature redesigned, safer intersections, smoother traffic flow, and over 90,000 square feet of brand-new, connected sidewalks for local pedestrians.
For the team at A.W. Oakes & Son, building it right is personal.
“We always go above and beyond to provide a good product because that’s going to be ours, too,” McMahon said. “We’re right here, we’re going to be jumping on it and hauling up and down it for the next two decades and then some.”
