Rhinelander council also looks to improve safety

By Eileen Persike
Editor

Relief may be in sight for motorists who travel Rhinelander’s Timber Drive. The City Council has approved an estimated $3 million project plan that would resurface the road, add curb and gutter where it doesn’t currently exist, replace or repair the sanitary sewer lines where necessary and add striping for bike lanes.

City Administrator Zach Vruwink said the next step is to put the project out for bids, with work expected to begin in the spring.
Last year the council budgeted just over $2 million, with contingencies, for the road work that did not address potential sewer and water concerns.

“For some reason or another, partially maybe through the planning exercises, but utilities were never, as far as I understood, part of the critical analysis up until more recently,” Vruwink told the council, adding, “It should be practice going forward on a project of this scale and nature to consider utilities.”

Funding for the utilities portion of the Timber Drive project would come from the Utility Department budget. Rhinelander’s Premier Resort Area Tax (PRAT) plus a $450,000 state grant would pay for pulverizing and resurfacing the road and the curb and gutter.

City engineer Mark Barden spoke at the Jan. 24 meeting, saying the project started in 2019 with a grant submittal for the road work to be done. Last year discussion about a bike path began and two grant applications for an off-road bike and pedestrian path on the south side of Timber Drive were submitted, but ultimately not awarded to the city. Then the sanitary sewer constraints were addressed. Barden said the existing pipe east of Coolidge Avenue is undersized and in poor condition.

“We televised the entire stretch and what we found is all the sanitary sewer is in poor condition, there are some offset joints, a bunch of sags, things that need to be addressed,” Barden said during the council meeting. “West of Coolidge, however, that sewer is in poor condition but it’s appropriately sized.” The water main, though aged, is not in need of replacement, he added.

Issues of pedestrian and bike safety were raised by council members. Last fall residents of the Timber Heights subdivision spoke out against the zoning change that allowed Blain’s Farm and Fleet to build at the Timber Drive intersection with the bypass, citing increased traffic concerns. There is currently a sidewalk only on the north side of the street.

“I think making sure we have sidewalks, especially on the Timber Heights side, would be prudent because we’re looking at safety issues especially if we’re looking at an uptick in traffic on that corner once Farm and Fleet goes in,” said alderman Tom Barnett. “So anything we can do to accommodate the safety of the people who live around there I think is worth it.”

Because the city did not get grant money for the bike path, which would be an 8-foot multi-use surface in place of a sidewalk, the planned striped bike lanes may be the next best thing, by narrowing the driving lanes.

“With 41 feet face-to-face and a six-foot bike lane, you have a 12-foot travel lane; that tends to slow people down,” Barden said. “When you have a 20-foot-wide travel lane, people tend to go a lot faster, so even striping of Timber Drive would slow traffic down.”

Bids are expected to go out in February, be returned in March and construction to begin after the spring thaw.