The Municipal Services Committee met 07/07/2025. They took up four items related to two state/municipal joint projects. The first two were a financial agreement and a maintenance agreement between the city and the state pertaining to the 41/French Road overpass reconstruction project. The second two were a revision to the funding agreement between the city and the state and a three-party design contract between the city, the state, and the contractor pertaining to the Lawe Street Navigational Canal Bridge project.
All items were unanimously recommended for approval by the committee.
I’ve prepared a transcript of the discussion for download:
41/FRENCH ROAD OVERPASS FINANCIAL AGREEMENT – As most if not all of us know from regular, first-hand experience, the Wisconsin Department of Transportation is in the middle of expanding Highway 41. As part of that project, they need to rebuild the portion of French Road that goes over the freeway. Right now the overpass is a two-lane bridge without pedestrian sidewalks, typical for rural overpasses. WisDOT intends to replace it with a two-lane bridge with bike lanes and sidewalks, typical for urban overpasses. The cost of reconstructing the roadway portion of the bridge will be covered 100% by the state but various improvements to the design will be covered in different percentages not only by the state but also by Appleton and Outagamie County. Appleton’s estimated portion of the costs end up being around $165,200, while the state will cover $10,522,100, and Outagamie County will cover $5,715.
Alderperson Sheri Hartzheim (District 13) asked about the timing of the project. Public Works Director Laura Jungwirth said that the Northland and Ballard overpasses were expected to reopen in the fall of 2025. The French Road and 47 overpasses are scheduled to close in spring of 2026 and reopen in fall of 2026. She spoke highly of WisDOT’s website about the I-41 project as a place to find information.
41/FRENCH ROAD MAINTENANCE AGREEMENT – Once the overpass is constructed, it will need to be maintained. This agreement between the state and the city lays out the maintenance responsibilities for each party. Basically, the state will maintain the structural integrity of the bridge. The city will maintain the decorative staining on the bridge and take care of sidewalks, bike lane marking, lighting, storm sewer related aspects, and snow removal.
Alderperson Hartzheim asked if maintaining the new bridge would be more expensive that maintaining the current bridge. Deputy Director Neuberger said that it would increase a little because the new bridge would have more features such as decorative railing that required staining treatment and sidewalks that would require snow removal, whereas the current bridge was a rural bridge with no extra features. However, despite the added cost, the new bridge met the city’s multi-modal pedestrian connectivity goals.
LAWE STREET NAVIGATIONAL CANAL BRIDGE REVISION TO STATE MUNICIPAL AGREEMENT – The city and state have an existing agreement related to the draw bridge down in the flats on Lawe Street which is the first bridge people come to when they are travelling from the south and going down the hill. The existing agreement identified the costs associated with the project and divided them up with the state taking on 80% of the estimated costs and Appleton taking on 20% of the estimated costs. Since that agreement was entered into, the design costs associated with the project have increased. Because of the way the agreement was arranged, Appleton would have been responsible for 100% of the addition cost instead of the addition cost being divided 80/20 between the state and the city. As a result, Appleton applied for a change management request in order to revise the agreement so that the state would still take on 80% of the cost and the city would still take on only 20%. With the new agreement in place, Appleton’s costs would increase by approximately $56,000, going from $347,304 to $403,171
LAWE STREET NAVIGATIONAL CANAL BRIDGE THREE-PARTY DESIGN CONTRACT WITH WISDOT AND HARDESTY & HANNOVER – This item was simply an update to the design contract entered into between the state, the city, and the designer.
View full meeting details and video here: https://cityofappleton.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=1318098&GUID=EC6C0C41-8361-41D0-B6A3-6963ED59BEF6
Be the first to reply