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Committee authorizes grant pursuit for 2 Mile Avenue left‑turn signal and approves signal design bid
Summary
The Wisconsin Rapids Public Works Committee authorized staff to pursue grant funding to add protected left‑turn signal equipment at 2 Mile Avenue and approved a $214,011.30 bid to Vanard Electric for two signal‑improvement design locations; staff cited recurring accidents and available grant support to cover most costs.
The Public Works Committee on Tuesday authorized city staff to apply for grant funding to add protected left‑turn signal equipment at 2 Mile Avenue and approved a $214,011.30 bid for signal‑improvement design work at two intersections.
City engineer Joe Eichstead told the committee that northbound left‑turning traffic at 2 Mile Avenue has trouble making safe turns, particularly when parents are picking up children at Woodside School. "There were three accidents involving vehicles specifically making northbound lefts" over the past five years, Eichstead said, citing records from 2022, 2023 and 2024. He outlined two near‑term options: a full flashing‑yellow‑arrow upgrade (about $100,000 per intersection) or an interim install of five‑section heads estimated at $30,000–$40,000, plus $5,000–$10,000 in engineering for timing plans.
The committee directed staff to pursue a grant that could cover up to 90 percent of construction costs, with a 10 percent local share. "If you won't mind, that'd be great," Chair Matt Zachary said when Eichstead recommended applying for the grant; the motion to authorize grant pursuit, including preference for the five‑section‑head interim fix, passed unanimously.
Separately, the committee considered bid results for a State Infrastructure Signal Program (SISP) project covering Riverview Expressway & A Street and Plover Road & Washington Street. Eichstead said the lone bidder, Vanard Electric, submitted a bid of $214,011.30. "With these bid numbers we've got a total cost of these improvements just over $255,000," Eichstead said, noting engineering already incurred totaled $41,005.84 and the city's local share would grow from roughly $24,000 to about $40,000.
Committee members said they supported moving ahead. "I would argue that these upgrades are a necessity," one member said before the committee voted to award the work to Vanard Electric.
The next steps are for staff to submit grant applications in the fall (with typical application cycles in fall and spring), await decisions through the winter and, if successful, schedule construction in a subsequent season. The committee also noted a DOT project slated for 2030–2032 will include wider signal upgrades at several intersections, which informed the choice to prefer an interim, lower‑cost fix now.
Votes at the meeting were recorded as unanimous on the signal items; the committee did not record individual roll‑call names for the "aye" responses other than the two-member voting count in the minutes.
The committee also heard planning and construction updates from the public works superintendent and scheduled further engineering work tied to these signal projects.
