City manager: Center Avenue paving wins award; 5 Points project to open Dec. 18; Station No. 3 site talks with school district

City Manager Kevin Lena told the Janesville City Council on Dec. 8 that the city received a 2025 Excellence in Construction award for concrete paving work on Center Avenue (a WisDOT project) and that the long‑awaited 5 Points WIS‑TAT project will be fully open to the public on Thursday, Dec. 18, pending final traffic-signal testing. “This project…was delayed due to some conflicts with the railroad, and they are finally gonna finish that up, pending any sort of weather delays and have it fully open on Thursday, December 18,” Lena said.

Lena said staff are beginning conversations with the school district about a potential site for Fire Station No. 3 and will visit Franklin Middle School as part of that discussion, noting the work aligns with the adopted CIP and a needs assessment for Station No. 3. He also recapped recent community events (the Jolly Jingle tree lighting and related activities drew about 500 attendees; the holiday light parade drew more than 6,000 attendees) and thanked recreation services and partners. Lena noted recent snow events required plow operations and that the city issued “over 300 some” tickets during the first snow emergency to keep streets clear.

Lena closed by confirming an open house for the 2400 block of Milton/Boyd Avenue is scheduled Thursday at City Hall as a follow-up to prior engagement with the Planning Commission and council. The remarks were delivered as the city manager’s regular update and were informational; no formal council action on these items was taken at the meeting.