Engineering updates 2025 street projects; downtown work ahead of schedule, phased neighborhood projects under way

City engineering staff provided progress reports on the 2025 street reconstruction program and related projects at the committee's June 12 meeting.

Downtown: The Washington/Third/Jackson downtown work is described as proceeding "extremely well" and is ahead of schedule. Washington Street from First to Third is open to traffic; paving is complete from Third to Fourth but final landscaping and finishing will keep full reopening later; concrete pours on Third Street (south of Washington toward Jackson) are underway.

Randolph and Cherry (Project A): The work is split into three phases. Phase 1 (Cherry Street from West Wausau to just north of Eldred) has underground utilities complete with gravel base down and curb scheduled next week. Phase 2 (Merrill Avenue to Third Avenue on Randolph) crews have completed sanitary sewer in the intersection and will proceed with water and eastward progress; the schedule is tied to school needs and should be finished by mid-August. Phase 3 (Cherry Street Eldred to Randolph and Third to Burrick) will follow; overall completion is targeted around mid-October.

Project B and Fulton Street: First Street and River Drive are complete and open. Fulton Street work is concentrated between First and Third, with Third Street closed briefly for underground work; paving and reopening of that intersection was projected imminently in the staff update. The broader Fulton work (Third to Seventh) will follow with an early-October completion target.

Multiuse trail (70 Second Avenue): The project's retaining-wall work under the overpass requires a temporary detour for southbound traffic; staff expects the detour to be lifted within a week and the multiuse trail completion target is August 1, with an expectation the work may finish earlier.

Context and constraints Staff noted the tight calendar for design, bidding and construction driven by budget and seasonal constraints and said certain lead-service-line replacements and utility repairs create patching needs separate from larger reconstruction projects. Committee members raised concerns about isolated trench-and-patch work (for example, lead service replacements) leaving neighborhood streets in poor condition; staff agreed to present a list of candidate streets for overlay work tied to available funds (including an extra-asphalt allocation) at a future meeting. Several alder members also asked staff to consider prioritizing full reconstruction when significant utility work is imminent rather than sequential patching.