Common Council Approves Street Occupancy Permit For Trout Museum Project – Drew Street Will Remain Closed Even On Weekends During The Project

The Common Council met 04/17/2024. One of the items they separated out for an individual vote was the request from the Boldt Company for a street occupancy permit along College Avenue, Drew Street, and Kimball Alley pertaining to the Trout Museum project. This permit will last through 11/01/2024 and includes the potential to be extended until 05/02/2025.

This item was approved by the Municipal Services Committee with the hope that an agreement of some sort could be worked out with Boldt to allow weekend access from the flats up through Drew Street to College Avenue.

Unfortunately, after reviewing various options, it appeared that providing weekend access through the area would result in increased negative impacts to traffic on College Avenue, so the Council ended up approving the occupancy permit as originally submitted with no weekend access through the area.

I’ve prepared a transcript of the discussion for download:

Director of Public Works Danielle Block explained to the Council that city staff met with Boldt and went through two or three alternatives regarding how the materials and equipment could be staged to provide weekend access through Drew Street. Unfortunately, all of the scenarios resulted in greater overall negative impacts to vehicle traffic, so staff recommended approving the street occupancy permit as submitted without any access being provided on the weekends.

Alderperson Kristin Alfheim (District 11) noted that she received a large number of phone calls pertaining to sudden closure of Drew Street. She felt communication more than the actual closure was the problem and wondered if it would be possible for the city to provide more notification to residents ahead of road closures.

The Council voted 14-0 to approve the street occupancy permit. After the vote was taken Mayor Woodford commented “Your feedback is well taken on communication around these things. I appreciate that, and we’ll do our best. This is always a tension that we’re trying to navigate being accommodating and trying to help projects move along. But we appreciate the feedback certainly.”

View full meeting details and video here: https://cityofappleton.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=1182537&GUID=71714EAF-9E4D-423D-B4EF-ABB89B38216F