Common Council approves $1.5 million streets project
By Dave Fidlin
Correspondent
With a full-fledged operating budget subject to approval in a few weeks, Whitewater officials have approved allocating funds toward a series of infrastructure projects in the year ahead.
The Common Council on Oct. 20 gave the green light to move forward with plans to update and reconstruct portions of Center and Summit streets and Boone Court. The entire project carries a $1.52 million price tag.
The impacted areas include Center Street, from Franklin to Summit streets; Summit Street, from Conger to Highland streets; Boone Street, from High Street to the northerly end at Boone Court.
Residents and other motorists traversing the area will experience a series of challenges throughout the construction projects, though plans are in motion to make as many accommodations to impacted property owners as possible.
The work is expected to begin in April and wrap in September.
In addition to street repaving, the extensive project will include replacing infrastructure, some of which dates back nearly a century ago.
Center Street, which has deep roots in the community, will be heavily overhauled, based on the plans revealed by Assistant City Manager Chris McDonell. The plans include widening the roadway from 28 to 35 feet to accommodate bike lanes.
Boone Street and Boone Court will receive similar treatment with street widening with 28 to 35 inches of roadway being added for similar accommodations. Boone Court also will be the recipient of a small cul-du-sac.
The improvements will come at the cost of small amounts of property acquisition and the removal of a number of trees – the specific number of which were not made available at last week’s meeting. McDonell said new trees will be planted when the project is completed.
The city’s plans for the street improvements have come after a series of neighborhood meetings, which have been used to gather feedback from residents. Even at the cost of greenery, McDonell said there has been majority support for enhanced bike and pedestrian accommodations.
“There’s a lot of support for the bike lanes, even though the widening … will result in the removal of all the trees on Center Street,” McDonell said. “We plan to reforest that area with new terrace trees.”
In addition to resurfacing much of the roadway, the city will embark on new utilities to replace aged infrastructure.
Based on a tentative timeline, McDonell said road reconstruction is expected to take place in one fell swoop, though the actual utility work will likely take place in phases, from the east end of the project area to the west.
The city has entered into an agreement with Attorney Ben Southwick, who specializes in issues pertaining to property acquisitions and eminent domain.
Southwick previously worked with the city on the extensive East Gateway reconstruction project a year ago that required similar maneuvers.
