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Division Street project planned

Reconstruction scheduled for summer 2018

By Scott Bellile


A one-mile stretch of Division Street will undergo reconstruction in summer 2018.

Waupaca County will split the estimated $1.3 million roadwork with New London 50/50 because Division Street doubles as County Trunk D.

The project is expected to run three months from Memorial Day to Labor Day 2018. County crews and subcontractors will perform the reconstruction.

Crews will replace the deteriorating two-lane road, sidewalks and curb and gutter. The primary work zone will start at Beacon Avenue (near Franklin Park) and move south to Beckert Road (near St. Joseph Residence and Tyson Foods).

During this time, New London will also reconstruct three blocks from Beacon Avenue to Wolf River Avenue. Work on this portion could start as early as April 2018 since Waupaca County will not be involved in this, New London Public Works Director Jeff Bodoh said at the August Board of Public Works meeting.

The breakdown for New London’s costs is as follows:
• $550,300 for total reconstruction from Beacon Avenue to Oak Street.

• $66,137 for mill and overlay and curb and gutter work from Oak Street to Beckert Road.

• $339,400 for other work the county is not involved in: Reconstruction from Beacon Avenue to Wolf River Avenue, and improvements to water laterals, sanitary sewers and storm sewers from Beacon Avenue to Oak Street.

Altogether, estimates put New London’s share at just under $1 million toward the Division Street project.

Waupaca County will contribute an estimated $616,500, since it’s not involved with the Beacon Avenue to Wolf River Avenue stretch or the water and sewer work from Beacon Avenue to Oak Street.

The New London City Council unanimously approved the construction agreement with Waupaca County Tuesday, Dec. 13. It was recommended to the council by the New London Board of Public Works on Dec. 5.

The intent is to keep the road accessible to Division Street homeowners so they can access their driveways, Waupaca County Highway Commissioner Casey Beyersdorf told the Board of Public Works on Dec. 5. However, “They’re going to have limited timeframes that they can get in when the curb and gutter or the concrete sidewalk’s curing.”

For non-local traffic, “All the traffic will be detoured,” Assistant Field Operations Manager Greg Flohr said. “I’m not sure what the exact detour route will be at this time.”

The city will ask Outagamie County if it can designate Mill Street as the official posted detour, Bodoh said.

Official detours are those that large trucks must use because some city streets have smaller weight limits. Residents are also encouraged to use official detours in order to keep heavy traffic out of side streets.

When Waupaca County Highway Department previously met with the Board of Public Works on Aug. 1, Bodoh said a priority was getting everything done in the summer when Lincoln Elementary School, Most Precious Blood Catholic School and Emanuel Lutheran School are not in session.

“You have three schools within a block, which means your schedule is going to have to be kind of tight,” he told the highway department. “You’re going to have to work with when the schools get out and then when they get back in session so we’re not disrupting bus traffic. And I guess we would like to have some sort of guarantee that we can work in that timeframe.”

“I don’t see that as a problem,” Waupaca County Highway Department Engineering Specialist Lisa Coombs replied.

At the Dec. 5 board meeting, New London Mayor Henke asked Waupaca County Highway Department to keep the project a continuous effort from start to finish.

“One of our concerns in the past has been that many a times when the county has done work in the city, they’ll do a certain amount of work, and then all of a sudden take off for Manawa or Marion or someplace else, and then the project sits there for three weeks and then starts up again or whatever,” Henke said. “That I think is a concern.”

Beyersdorf said county crews will remain on the job because he’s not aware of any other Waupaca County construction projects scheduled for 2018.

“This is our bread and butter for that year,” Beyersdorf said of Division Street.

Henke expressed confidence in the contract with the county and said he looks forward to going “full-bore” on the project.

“This is one we’ve been talking about for years and needs to get done,” Henke said.

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