By the early 1990s, WIS 57, the primary route into and out of the Door Peninsula's resort country, had become inadequate to safely carry current traffic loads, and a Wisconsin Department of Transportation study found an increasing rate of highway-related crashes. WisDOT developed a plan to realign, widen, and improve the southern portion of the highway to promote public safety and enhance regional economic development in accord with its Corridors 2020 report. Before choosing a final design, WisDOT conducted environmental, cultural, and archaeological studies to assess the effects of road construction on the Door Peninsula's cultural and natural landscape. Consultation among WisDOT, the Federal Highway Administration, and project stakeholders led to the selection of a new route designed to minimize impacts on the natural and cultural environment. To safeguard archaeological and historic resources affected by the project, WisDOT entered into a Memorandum of Agreement with the Federal Highway Administration, the Wisconsin State Historic Preservation Officer, and other stakeholders, including the Forest County Potawatomi Community of Wisconsin, Ho-Chunk Nation, Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma, Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin, and Peninsula Belgian-American Club. The archaeological investigations associated with this agreement created an unparalleled opportunity to study the rich but often fragile archaeological and historical record of northeastern Wisconsin. The reconstruction project began about one mile north of the WIS 54/57 interchange in Brown County and extended north for 27.5 miles to the WIS 42 intersection about eight miles north of Brussels, with the realigned route generally paralleling the old two-lane road while being widened and redesigned as a limited-access four-lane highway.