Peshtigo Reconstruction Work To Start This Week

Work on the multiple construction projects planned for this summer in Peshtigo will start before the end of the week with demolition of pavement, curb and gutter on Ellis Ave., Robert E. Lee & Associates Project Manager Mark Schuster announced at a public informational meeting at Peshtigo City Hall that began at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, May 1.

Work will begin on French Street on Monday, May 7, and a detour on Peck Ave. is to go into effect at that time. Work will start at the west end of the project and proceed toward the bridge. The DOT detour around the city is not expected to begin until work on the bridge starts in early June.

The downtown streets will be closed to through traffic while construction is underway, but will for the most part residents will be able to enter their driveways at least each night except while concrete driveway aprons and sidewalks are being poured and cured, and will be given at least 48 hours notice if vehicles will be unable to exit or enter. Once the concrete is poured vehicles will not be able to drive on it for about a week. The work includes excavations for underground utilities, which could also limit driveway access.

Business people at the meeting were concerned, but optimistic that once work is done the beautiful new downtown will make their problems worthwhile.

“It’s to be a mess, but we’ll come out all right,” said Mayor Al Krizenesky.

WPS is to begin drawing down the Peshtigo River on Tuesday, May 15 in preparation for reconstruction of the Peshtigo River Bridge and its approaches. Repairs to the WPS dam will be done at the same time. Water will be released from the flowage at the rate of six inches a day until the 12-foot drawdown is complete in mid-June. Wisconsin DOT is in charge of the bridge replacement, with Lunde Construction as general contractor.

Fishing on the flowage above the Peshtigo dam will be closed from Tuesday, May 8 until normal water levels are restored, probably about mid-September. Refilling of the flowage will begin about Aug. 15, and levels will go up as they went down, at the rate of 6” a day. Fishing will be allowed on the flowage from the Potato Rapids area to the Peshtigo River Bridge, which will not be affected as much by the drawdown as waters closer to the dam in Peshtigo.

Mayor Al Krizenesky opened Tuesday’s meeting by introducing lead players in the city’s portion of the downtown reconstruction projects. They were, along with Schuster, Robert E. Lee Design Engineer Ryan Trzinski; Scott DeGroot, Jr., general contractor for the work on Ellis Ave., Oconto Ave. and French Street; WPS representatives Jae Houtman, project engineer for the drawdown and dam repair; Jenny Short, WPS Public Relations Director; WDNR Fisheries Biologist Chip Long, and Peshtigo Public Works Director George Cowell.

Krizenesky said throughout the construction process, Cowell will be the “go to man” if problems arise, since he will have ongoing contact with each of the contractors. Schuster will also be a contact person, and his phone number and e-mail address were included with an informational packet for the meeting.

The projects starting this week include French Street starting approximately 200 feet west of Ellis Street (approximately at the Dairy Queen) and proceeding east 1,300 feet to West Front Street; 700 feet on Oconto Avenue starting 100 feet northwest of Ellis Street southeast to French Street.

The Ellis Avenue reconstruction, which is a city project, will begin at Thompson Street and proceed north to French Street. Work there will include all new pavement and replacement of exiting curb and gutter and terrace area, driveway aprons and underground storm sewer.

Oconto Ave. work includes replacement of storm sewers, water mains and sanitary sewer, replacement of curb and gutter, and new sidewalks up to the building fronts.

The city’s French Street project will be completed under two separate contracts. The first encompasses the sewer work and all of the roadway work on both French Street and Oconto Ave., which is funded through TIF District and a jurisdictional transfer agreement with WisDOT. The second contract, which includes all the enhancement work on French Street, is being funded through WisDOT with 80 percent federal funds and 20 percent city. All of the Ellis Ave. reconstruction is funded by the city and the TIF District.

As soon as possible the alley from North Emery will be resurfaced to give access to some of the businesses in the construction area. Emery will remain open as long as school is open, but then will be closed. It will not be open for summer school. The Chamber of Commerce plans to post signs directing traffic on alternate routes to businesses.

The Ellis Ave. and Oconto Ave. intersection will be closed next week, but people living on Oconto Ave. will still be able to get in and out.

DeGroot said his crews always try to complete work in less then a day when they are working in front of a house. Except when the concrete is poured, there will be driveway access each night. There will be times when water and sewer cannot be used, but not for more than a few hours and they will never be out of service overnight. Households will be notified in advance with door hangers when disruptions in service will occur.

Krizenesky pointed out there may be periods when water will run brown because of rust dislodged when water lines are disturbed. The water is safe to drink, he said, but is unattractive and not good for laundry.

During the construction period people are asked to bring their trash to the nearest intersection.

When the Peshtigo remodeling is over, hopefully in about five months, all of French Street from the east end of the bridge to the west city limits will be newly paved, there will be a new bridge, and downtown will have a whole new look.

In separate contracts being handled by Wisconsin DOT and coordinated with the city projects, French Street will be repaved from the east side of the new Peshtigo River Bridge to the city’s project at Front Street, and from the west end of the city’s project to Dolan Ave. near the west city limits.

As totally separate projects directed by the Parks and Recreation committee, Badger Park and Riverfront Park, the green area along the Peshtigo River, are also undergoing beautification and improvement, including a new gazebo, plantings, sidewalks a boat dock and fishing piers. The recently purchased recreational area south of the bridge will be developed into a park, but that may take longer. Riverfront Park reconstruction is being done under the direction of Enterprise Engineering.

At Tuesday’s meeting, Schuster described the downtown beautification work he will direct, financed by an enhancement grant from WisDOT. There will be new stop lights with black poles, and new street lights with bronze poles and tear drop shaped lights to coordinate with the decorative sidewalks with a brick paving strip, and brick paved crosswalk areas. Adding to pleasing aesthetics will be flower pots, trees and flowering shrubs planted in the area. The triangle between French Street and Oconto Avenue will be paved and beautified. Cowell explained the city will be planting a variety of flowering shrubs and trees to eliminate the danger of losing all their trees if a disease strikes.

Cowell said only a 30-day construction period is being allowed for the Ellis Ave. project, start to finish. Installation of a new large diameter storm sewer should alleviate a flooding problem.

Short said the WPS drawdown that starts on May 15 will end a month later with waters down 12 feet, to about the same level they were during the 2010 drawdown. After every two feet of water drop WPS environmental personnel will move stranded fish and mussels (clams) to stable waters. She said their permit requires them to start refilling by August 15 to prevent harm to the “Blanding” population. She said from a safety standpoint, water levels cannot be raised more than six inches a day.

While water levels are down WPS will do some repair work to their dam, which will take about a month. Because of construction hazards and need to stage construction equipment there will be very limited access to the river in areas close to the dam. The east side parking lot will be closed ot the public, and only a smaller parking lot farther downstream will offer some spots for fishermen to park.

Long, fish biologist for the DNR, said during this drawdown fishing will not be allowed, starting on Tuesday, May 8. He told of fielding a great deal of criticism when he first came to Peshtigo in 2010 because fishing was allowed to continue through the drawdown. That was not his decision, since he came after the drawdown began. However, he explained the rationale then was to allow the fish to be harvested instead of wasting them. He said many of the fish in the flowage would move downstream as the waters receded in any case, and those that were stranded would die anyway. After that drawdown the DNR restocked bluegill and northern pike.

After water levels in the flowage are restored this fall the DNR will stock large mouth bass and northern pike, and in 2014 they plan some walleye stocking. WPS will restore at least 1,000 mussels to the flowage.

A man in the audience said during the last drawdown he had not seen anyone moving mussels or fish to areas where they could survive, to which Houtman replied, “Our environmental people were there. We did everything we were hired to do.”

“I retired early so i could fish on the river,” the resident complained, adding when he first came to Peshtigo the area around his dock was filled with fish, but now there are hardly any.

Krizenesky reported there are efforts underway, spearheaded by Eric and Cindy Anderson, to get the rock piles in the river taken down. Long said that may not be possible, since they have historical significance. Back in the heyday of logging, some men spent their entire work days on those piles, using poles to break up log jams and keep the logs moving downstream to the mill.

Because of the reduction in traffic levels since the by-pass, DOT has determined that shorter turn lanes can be allowed, which means more on-street parking for area businesses. The former traffic count was 18,000 to 24,000 cars a day, and now there are about 6,000 to 8,000 cars passing through daily.

Krizenesky said as soon as school is out bus service will be provided, courtesy of WisDOT, to help people get around the construction area and from one side of the river to the other by way of the Hwy. 41 by-pass to access the senior center, ball fields, school, etc. There also will be a foot path across the river on the old railroad bridge on BPM property.

Courtesy of WPS and the DNR, posters warning of special conditions during the Peshtigo River drawdown will be available for display at business places and various other locations in the city.

People are cautioned to avoid construction areas and to be alert for flashing lights, sirens and rising or lowering water levels.

Only foot traffic is allowed on the exposed bed of the flowage. Vehicles and ATVs are strictly prohibited. Fishing is prohibited from May 8 until the water levels return to normal, as determined by the DNR. Metal detecting and driftwood collecting are prohibited in the reservoirs. Anyone carrying boats or canoes to or from navigable waters are urged to use caution, and boaters need to be aware that navigational hazards such as logs, stumps and high velocity water may be more common during the drawdown.

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