CASSVILLE, Wis. -- Paving is under way on an 81/2-mile stretch of Wisconsin 133, the main highway from Cassville to Potosi. It caps a massive, $8.5 million reconstruction effort.

Most of the work entailed regrading and widening the old roadway and straightening curves.

Work began in the middle of March on the section from Grant County N (the Burton turnoff) to the Cassville village limits.

"From sunup to sundown, 7 a.m.

to 7 p.m.," said John Gantenbein, project leader who is consulting for the state Department of Transportation.

He predicted paving, which began at the Cassville village limits, will be completed by Friday, Nov. 20 -- the day before the start of the state's gun deer-hunting season.

"Definitely, almost positive, 99 percent sure," he said.

Over the course of the final stage, 41,000 tons of hot mix-asphalt pavement will be put down -- two layers, the first is the binder and the other is the surface asphalt -- one lane at a time.

"It's going to last," Gantenbein said. "It's being done right. It isn't something that's being Band-Aided. It's going to be a good, hard road."

Following the paving, work crews will paint lines, install guard rails in selected areas and install 70 signs.

What motorists will notice the most is how the road has "basically flattened out," Gantenbein said. Several curves and hills have been taken out, improving visibility.

"You can see a lot farther," he said, adding that the shoulders are wider with 5 feet of paving and 1 foot of gravel.

"It will be safe to get off the road and get on your cell phone," Gantenbein said. "Before, there wasn't very much shoulder out there. This will be a nice section of highway."

Work on that portion of Wisconsin 133, part of the Great River Road system, has been delayed three times. It originally had been scheduled to start in 2002.

"I think everyone will be happy when the road opens up," said Keevin Williams, Cassville village president. "This was a road that needed repairs, needed to be redone. I'm told the last time it was regraded was something like in the mid-1940s -- that's more than 50 years," Williams continued. "It's going to make for much more level driving conditions -- as well as making maintenance easier and safer for the county's road maintenance crews."