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High, Harrison work continues

Work on High Street will be finished first, thenHarrison Street will be tackled in August. The residents on these streets will have all new utilities. The entire project is expected to be finished by the end of August. James Card Photo

New streets in Waupaca nearing completion

By James Card

Last summer it was Main Street and this summer, the residents of Harrison Street and High Street must endure the noise, dust and disruption of road construction.

By the time autumn, people in this neighborhood will have two freshly paved streets and all new utilities connecting their homes – not just storm, sewer and water – but also upgraded equipment in their local electrical, gas and internet networks.

“Right now we’re targeting the end of August to be complete,” said Waupaca’s Director of Public Works Justin Berens.

“We’re looking at having it fully paved and open to the public by September 1. There’re going to be some wiggle room in there. We need some good weather moving forward. There will be some things that carry over which is normal – we’ll come in and do some dirt work, like topsoil and seeding. That’s pretty typical,” he said.

The goal is to finish High Street, then start Harrison Street by Aug. 1.

Harrison Street will be shut down for construction between Fulton to Granite streets.

The utility lines being replaced are judged to be around 100 years old. They are undersized for today’s standards and might contain lead.

The water pipes were made of cast iron and some old timers working for the city have come across wooden water pipes in past projects.

Sewer lines were made of handmade clay pipes in six-foot sections and patched together.

No new sidewalk areas will be constructed but the ramps leading into the sidewalks will be built to American Disability Act standards and will be easier and safer to traverse.

New hydrants

New hydrants with larger diameter piping will be installed and will allow firefighters to blast more water volume into blazes. A side bonus to this is that homes in this area will have better water pressure.

Other work crews besides the city and its contractor, the David Tenor Corporation, have been busy.

Since the street was in the process of being ripped up, Wisconsin Public Service, We Energies, AT&T and Spectrum took the opportunity to jump in and make upgrades and improvements to their infrastructure and lines.

“They come through when we do our road projects and sometimes they have to move things to get out of our way for our improvements. So it’s a great benefit to the community. There no cost to us or to any residents, they just come in and do their improvements now knowing that we don’t want to touch this for another 20 years, so they do the same thing. It’s more cost effective if we do it all the same time,” said Berens.

Disruption of services will be minimal. For sewer, the connection is made quickly and is mostly a non-issue. For water, there will be a 2-3 hour shut-off to make the lateral connection.

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