The city of Antigo is gearing up for several road projects in the upcoming construction season.
Charley Brinkmeier, the head of the Antigo public works department, said the city is preparing for projects around 4th Avenue, Edison Street and other areas of the city.
Brinkmeier said timelines will become more clear for each of the construction projects as contracts are finalized, but that construction season typically gets going in May, and wraps up by the end of September, to accommodate weather and street weight limits.
Edison Street
The city is planning for a renovation of Edison Street from 6th Avenue to 10th Avenue this year.
The project will be a total reconstruction of the road between 6th and 9th Avenues, with new pavement, utilities, curb and gutter and sidewalk. Then the segment of Edison Street between 9th and 10th Avenues will be only renovated pavement.
The city’s plan commission approved a bid from A1 Excavating, a Chippewa County construction company, for the project at a March 27 plan commission meeting, Brinkmeier said.
The total project cost is estimated around $2.48 million, but Brinkmeier said the city received a $1 million community block grant for the project.
And the city will try for additional grant funding on the project, Brinkmeier said.
Brinkmeier said the city has utilized several state and federal grant programs to offset construction costs, and that grants are a priority for the city. While applying and waiting for grant awards can sometimes delay or shift construction schedules year to year, Brinkmeier said overall grants “extend our local dollars.” Sometimes if the city doesn’t get grants, projects don’t happen or have to be delayed.
“If we didn’t have those grant dollars in place…We would do a lot smaller projects if we had to pay for them 100%,” he said.
4th Avenue Bridge
The city is also preparing for a reconstruction of the 4th Avenue Bridge.
The Wisconsin DOT bid the project out, Brinkmeier said, and the bid was awarded to Pheifer Brothers Construction of Winnebago County for $1.02 million. This project qualified for a match, Brinkmeier said, so the DOT will pay for 80% of the project, and the city of Antigo will pay for 20% of the project.
The bridge will be completely removed during this project and totally reconstructed. The new bridge will be positioned further north than it currently is, to avoid being as close to property lines.
Brinkmeier said that 4th Avenue at the bridge will likely be completely closed for a period of 2024, but the timeline for the project won’t be clear until construction contracts are finalized. The city will be coordinating with nearby property owners when renovations to maintain as much access as possible to their properties, and notify them when construction might near them.
4th Avenue
In addition to the 4th Avenue bridge being reconstructed, the city of Antigo also plans to seek contractors to renovate 4th Avenue on either side of the bridge, Brinkmeier said.
Bids for this project haven’t gone out yet, but will in 2024.
The plan is to renovate 4th Avenue east of the bridge from Highway 45 to the bridge, and west of the bridge to 5th Avenue. This is almost a full reconstruction, Brinkmeier said. The project will also replace decaying stormwater pipes on the west side of 4th from Highway 45 to the bridge. On the east side of the bridge, contractors will replace a stormwater pipe that is too small.
Springbrook Trail Expansion
Another project on the docket this year for Antigo will be an expansion of the Springbrook Trail, from the Remington Detention Pond to Highway 64. The path will run along Charlotte Street from the north to behind the Walmart. This is a brand new segment of trail, meant to connect new apartment buildings to the trail. The trail will connect up at the fairgrounds, Brinkmeier said, which continues all the way to downtown Antigo.
“That’s going to be exciting when that one’s completed,” Brinkmeier said.
That project will go out for bid shortly, Brinkmeier said.
Highway 45
Future projects
Brinkmeier said the city has several important projects coming up after 2024.
At the March 27 meeting, the Antigo Plan Commission approved an agreement with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation for funding engineering services for a renovation of a half-mile stretch of Highway 45 from County Highway Y to Spring Brook Bridge. The agreement asks that the city fund $30,625 toward engineering services on the project, and the state will cover the rest, which is about $1.58 million. The contract does not specify when construction would take place.
The city of Antigo also is in the process of having construction designed for a renovation of 10th Avenue from Western to the eastern city limits, slated for 2026. The city already received an 80/20 matching grant from the Wisconsin DOT for that project, Brinkmeier said.
Designs for a renovation for 7th Avenue from Door to Claremont, and Claremont from 7th to 10th, are in the works, and slated for 2025 construction. That project will also receive an 80/20 match grant.
Brinkmeier said that in the next two years, the city plans to update all the streets around the middle school, because the roads are “in terrible shape.”
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