City street projects to begin this week

Orange season is about to begin in full force with the City of Rhinelander poised to complete its Oneida Avenue and Timber Drive projects and make repairs to Courtney and Pelican streets, among others.

City officials held an informational meeting at City Hall Wednesday evening to explain the street and utility projects scheduled for this year.

“We have some projects that we need to wrap up that were left over from last year as well as a couple of new projects this year,” Mayor Kris Hanus said, noting that last year’s infrastructure repair projects were “a huge undertaking” carrying a price tag of approximately $15 million, portions of which were covered via grants.

Mark Barden of Town and Country Engineering,  summarized the city’s plans for 2024 starting with completion of the Phillip Street Bridge project.

Last year, the water main under the bridge was replaced and paving took place in late October. 

“We need to put the surface course of asphalt on that this year,” Barden said. “That’s the only thing left on that.”

Work is expected to begin in mid-May and be completed by June 1, according to a schedule provided by the city.

Also scheduled to be completed this summer is the Timber Drive project, which began in 2022. Surface asphalt paving is scheduled to take place between May 1 and June 30.

Barden also noted that the city is aware that there are potholes on Timber that need to be fixed and that work will take place this spring.

We know it, everybody’s aware of it. It’s going to be fixed,” he said.

According to Barden, there was a need to open Timber Drive from Coolidge Avenue to Woodland Drive prior to school starting in the fall of ‘23. Complicating matters, there was a lot of rain during the summer “and when they were about to pave that the base course was wet,” he explained.

 “We generally don’t let the contractors pave if the base is soft,” he continued. “The contractor was aware of it. They wanted to get it open with the knowledge they were going to come back and repair it.”

He stressed that “there’s nothing wrong with the road” and “it’s not bad material under there.”

In addition to those repairs, there are concrete approaches for the bike path that need to be installed as well final paving and striping.

Final touches to the streets included in the 16-block Oneida Avenue project are also scheduled to take place this year and new projects are planned for Courtney, Pelican and Grant streets.

Construction on Courtney Street is scheduled to begin this week and the roadway will be closed for 6-8 weeks, Barden said.

Motorists should prepare for detours and a flagging operation.

Pelican Street, which Barden described as being in “very poor shape” is scheduled for mill and overlay work between July 15 and Sept. 30. Finally, Grant Street is scheduled for a complete restoration, including utility replacement, curb and gutter and sidewalk.

For more detailed information on the planned street project, visit the city website at www.rhinelanderwi.us.

Heather Schaefer may be reached at [email protected].