Construction scheduled for 2019
By Angie Landsverk
Evans Street will be reconstructed from Churchill to Berlin streets in 2019.
The street’s design will be finalized early next year before the project is sent out to bid.
“We will receive bids in early spring. That sets up for construction to start as early as it can,” said Justin Berrens, Waupaca’s director of public works.
Construction will likely begin in May and take six to eight weeks to complete, he said.
Berrens provided the project’s timeline on Thursday, Nov. 15, during a public informational meeting at Immanuel Lutheran Church.
Approximately 45 people attended the meeting.
The church is located on Evans Street.
“To go from here, I still need a little more input,” Berrens said.
He is seeking input from those who live on the street as to which of two designs they prefer.
Berrens presented the options during the meeting.
One design is for two, l1-foot travel lanes with 5-foot paved shoulders on each side.
A white painted line would separate the paved shoulders from the travel lanes.
The other design is for two, 11-foot travel lanes with an 8-foot paved path on one side.
There would be a 4-foot wide grass terrace between the path and travel lane.
That terrace would also be for snow storage, with the adjacent property owners expected to shovel the path in front of their homes.
Berrens said the path for pedestrians and bicyclists would likely go on the north side of Evans Street, connecting it to the sidewalk already on Berlin Street.
During the first public informational meeting about the project – held in the fall of 2017 – four design scenarios were presented.
Half of those in attendance favored a design with paved shoulders, while the other half was split between desiring sidewalk or an asphalt trail, Berrens said.
“The hot topic was if we could do sidewalks,” he said. “We have pretty much eliminated that possibility due to cost and room. We just don’t have the room.”
Berrens said adding sidewalk would require the addition of curb and gutter, which would increase the project’s cost to $1 million.
The city has budgeted $640,000 for the project.
It sought grants to help fund the cost, but was unsuccessful in receiving them, Berrens said.
Questions and comments during the meeting included access to driveways during the project and concerns about the speed of motorists traveling on the street.
The speed limit on Evans Street is 25 mph, and the city’s Police Department did place radar on the street due to concerns of some in the neighborhood.
The department found 90 percent of those driving on the street were going less than 30 mph, Berrens said.
“We are going to stripe it with double yellow lines and two white lines. We hope it will slow people down,” he said after hearing some chuckle when he noted what the street’s speed limit is.
Berrens said the street will be wider when the project is complete.
The striping makes people feel like they are in a smaller space, he said.
“So people tend to slow down,” Berrens said.
He said only local traffic will be allowed on the street during construction.
Family and friends visiting people on the street will be allowed as well, he said.
Those trying to use Evans Street as a through road may be ticketed by police, Berrens said.
Emergency access will be allowed throughout the project.