By Kevin Boneske
Staff Writer
SUAMICO – Plans to expand portions of Lineville Road were backed on a 6-1 vote Monday, June 1, by the village board.
Trustee Michelle Eckert, who objected to a 12-foot wide paved bicycle trail along the roadway, cast the lone dissenting vote.
Public Works Director Andy Smits said village staff met with representatives from Brown County and the Village of Howard to discuss how to reconstruct Lineville Road (County M) from Belmont Road to Deerfield Avenue.
Smits said the conceptual design “fits the needs of a major corridor between two busy communities and also fits within our five-year (Capital Improvements Plan).”
“The first and foremost goal of this project is public safety, for both vehicular traffic and pedestrian,” he said. “The second goal is to plan for the long-term needs of Suamico and the traffic counts this road currently experiences and will encounter.”
Smits said the conceptual design takes both of those factors into consideration to keep smooth traffic movements and flow.
He said the reconstruction plans call for the roadway to have four lanes.
Smits said an urban section with curb and gutter would have: two lanes of traffic in each direction; a two-way, left-turn lane in the median; a 5-foot wide concrete sidewalk on the south side; and a 12-foot wide paved trail on the north side.
Board members in support of the plan said they favored having a paved trail off of Lineville Road for safer travel with bicycles.
Smits said the project is being split into two portions with the section from Velp Avenue to Belmont Road beginning in 2024 and the portion from Velp Avenue to West Deerfield Avenue scheduled for 2025.
“There will be some growing pains and delays during construction, but it will be needed for a successful, timely completion of the project,” he said.
With the county funding half of the eligible project costs, Smits said the village’s total estimated cost would be around $4.8 million when factoring in a 10 percent contingency.
Once the agreements are signed by both villages and the county, he said a public information meeting will be held to receive input.
Village Administrator Alex Kaker said bonding will be used for Suamico to finance its share of the project.
General obligation bonds
In other action, the board approved a resolution awarding the sale of $6.895 million in general obligation bonds for the purpose of paying the cost of capital improvement projects with a true interest rate of 1.65 percent.
Todd Taves, the village’s financial advisor with Ehlers, said FHN Financial in Memphis, Tennessee, submitted the low bid out of five received.
Of the bonding amounts Taves presented, $5.855 million is for financing the construction of a new Fire Station No. 1, $495,000 is to refinance the 2007 water bonds, $305,000 is for water tower repainting and $240,000 is for engineering related to the Lineville Road reconstruction.
Because the interest rate is lower than the previously anticipated rate of 2.3 percent, Kaker said village will be able to save around $500,000 in interest upon the principal and interest being paid off on the bonds in 20 years.