Damakant Jayshi
The Capital Improvements and Street Maintenance Committee on Thursday approved a revised plan for the Business Campus trail, Wausau School District’s request for a dedicated right-of-way and removing a round planter from the city’s downtown, among other decisions.
The scope of Business Campus Trail project was reduced, engineer Thomas Niksich told the CISM Committee, since the city’s application for previous grant amount was significantly lower than current estimated construction costs. In January, the engineering staff recommended reducing the Business Campus trail project to the portion of trail from 72nd Avenue to 84th Avenue. The committee approved the revision to the State Municipal Agreement and the staff submitted a changed scope of the project.
The estimated cost for this section would be $2.22 million, with the state’s Transportation Alternatives Program pitching in about a million dollars and Wausau incurring slightly over $1.2 million.
Similarly, the CISM Committee also approved a request from the Wausau School District to extend Washington Street, east of N. 14th Street to Kickbusch Street, giving the district a dedicated a 60-foot right-of-way. The public roadway would eliminate the dead end on Kickbusch St. and provide an alternate access for Hawthorn Hills Elementary School.
According to the Engineering Department, the WSD will construct the roadway but the city would be responsible for “all future maintenance, rehabilitation, and future reconstructions.”
Another staff recommendation that the committee approved on Thursday was relocating a round planter at the northwest corner of 3rd Street and Jefferson Street to provide more space to downtown businesses.
According to city staff, Malarky’s Pub, which has been providing outside live music along the sidewalk, requested them to remove the round planter and a monument sign near it to free up the space for a larger gathering of people. When asked about the cost of relocating the planter and the monument sign, Public Works Director Eric Lindman said the city staff would do it.
Meanwhile, the CISM Committee deferred making any decision on imposing no parking during snow removal after briefly discussing it.
CISM Committee Chair Lou Larson said the measure was requested by Common Council President Becky McElhaney. The proposal would require ordinance change. The committee directed the staff to bring recommendation to alternate parking options for residents who will be impacted by snow emergency orders. The matter will likely be decided at the next month’s meeting.
