Colfax considers road projects for bipartisan infrastructure law funding
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
COLFAX — If the Wisconsin Department of Transportation is going to cover 80 percent of a street project with money allocated by the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, what’s the best street for submitting a grant application?
It might be reasonable to assume the best street for such a project would be the most expensive street because it would benefit taxpayers the most while at the same time allowing the village to take advantage of as much federal funding as possible, and that’s what the Colfax Village Board discussed at the March 14 meeting.
The Surface Transportation Program grant pays 80 percent of the costs for resurfacing a street and includes curb and gutter, said Gareth Shambeau of Ayres Associates.
Railroad Avenue would be the most likely to qualify for the grant since it would not include utilities, he said.
The most recent estimate for resurfacing Railroad Avenue is $1.11 million.
Under the STP grant, Colfax would pay about $223,000, and the federal share would be nearly $900,000.
In recent years, street projects in Colfax have cost anywhere from around $250,000 to nearly $400,000, depending on the length of the street and the water main and sewer main that must be replaced.
The Colfax Messenger has a unique perspective on Railroad Avenue since the newspaper office is located on East Railroad Avenue.
The street has a surprising amount of traffic back and forth from state Highway 40 to county Highway M.
The road surface on Railroad is so rough, that semi trucks and other trucks hauling trailers and various equipment crash and bang, sounding as if there has been an accident outside of the Messenger office.
Every spring, potholes open up in the street — and every spring, village employees dutifully fill in the potholes, only to have those potholes open up again by the next morning or at least within the next day or two, causing the village employees to fill in the potholes again.
Grant application
For projects in 2023 to 2026, the grant application process opened on February 28, said Lynn Niggemann, village administrator-clerk-treasurer.
Niggemann recently listened to a WisDOT webinar about the infrastructure law funding.
President Joe Biden signed the $1 trillion Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill into law in November of 2021.
The application is due by June 3, and grants are expected to be awarded in July of this year, Niggemann said.
The STP grant program had funding available for this year, too, but resurfacing projects had to have already been designed and be ready for construction in 2022, she said.
Process
Projects completed through the WisDOT/BIL program are handled differently than other street projects, Shambeau said.
WisDOT bids the projects, awards the bids and is the owner of the contract, he said, adding that Ayres Associates would not be able to oversee the work while it is being completed.
The village would spend more on the design of the project, but the village also would get more back through the grant, Shambeau said.
If the village applies but is not awarded a grant, the village does not have to complete the street project, he said.
WisDOT will solicit bids from eligible contractors, such as Monarch Paving, Haas Sons and A-1 Excavating, Shambeau said, noting that WisDOT has rules for identifying qualified bidders.
What’s the cost of the application? asked Anne Jenson, village trustee.
The cost for Ayres would be only the amount of time it would take to estimate the cost of the project, Shambeau said.
The actual application would have to filled out by Lynn Niggemann, so the cost to the village would be for her time to do the work, he said.
Shambeau suggested contacting the local DOT administrator to make sure that Railroad Avenue would qualify for the grant.
WisDOT walks grant applicants through the grant application process, he said.
One village board member mentioned Highway 40 through downtown, but Niggemann pointed out that the village’s portion of the Highway 40 resurfacing project would be the parking lanes, and that the parking lanes are already part of a DOT project.
Walking path
Anne Jenson, village trustee, wondered if a gravel walking path could be part of the Railroad Avenue project since so many people walk along the road.
Trails are something WisDOT is interested in doing, and a mixed use trail made out of asphalt could be a possibility, as long as the trail would be in the village’s right-of-way and not in the railroad right-of-way, Shambeau said.
Would there be any property issues with Railroad Avenue? asked Jeff Prince, village trustee.
The DOT will ask if there is any real estate acquisition required, Shambeau said.
Niggemann said she believed any of the property issues that might have been a problem along Railroad Avenue have been resolved.
The main concern with a walking path would be parking for the Colfax Fairgrounds since people park on the south side of Railroad during the Colfax Free Fair and for other events, too, Niggemann said.
The estimate for Railroad Avenue includes curb and gutter, but curb and gutter does not have to be installed if it will create a problem for parking, Shambeau said.
On the other hand, one of the questions to ask would be whether WisDOT would require curb and gutter for the project, he said.
Although curb and gutter would help channel the stormwater, if it eliminates parking for the fairgrounds or for the funeral home, then curb and gutter is not a good idea, Niggemann said.
Drivers slow down when an urban road has curb and gutter versus a rural road with no curb and gutter, Shambeau noted.
People already walk in the green space on the south side of Railroad Avenue, Niggemann said.
A walking path would not be a necessity, Prince said.
The application process is not as simple as the application process for Local Road Improvement Program (LRIP) funds, but the process does have a lot of “check boxes,” Shambeau said.
Oak Street
Would Oak Street qualify for the STP grant? asked Gary Stene, village trustee.
According to the village’s five-year capital improvement plan for streets, Oak Street would cost an estimated $143,000 and would include 375 feet of street, curb and sanitary sewer construction.
The street portion of Oak Street would qualify but not the sanitary sewer construction, Shambeau said.
Railroad Avenue, if the village is willing to jump through the DOT hoops, would make it worthwhile to apply for the grant, he said.
Could it be a combined project with Railroad Avenue and the Oak Street resurfacing? Niggemann asked.
Shambeau said he was “learning as we go,” but that it would be a question to ask the regional DOT administrator if multiple streets could be done in one bid package.
The Colfax Village Board agreed to table the issue of applying for the STP grant until more information is available.
Stene pointed out that 20 percent of the Oak Street project would be less money for the village to pay than 20 percent of the Railroad Avenue project.
