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City will act on south side

By GENE KEMMETER
of The Gazette
The Stevens Point Common Council will hold a special meeting Tuesday, Aug. 21, to deal with the south side business highway alignment plan and accept a contract to acquire property in the area.

The special meeting will follow meetings of the Plan Commission, Finance Committee and Board of Public Works that begin at 6 p.m. in conference rooms 1 and 2 of the Portage County Courthouse Annex.

The city needs to act on the contract to acquire property in the area by the end of the month, necessitating the special meeting, a day after the regular council meeting for August.

The state Department of Transportation notified city officials June 27 that the city will receive up to $880,000 through a federal grant toward the $1.1 million project to improve the Business Highway 51 route in the city, primarily in the area between Monroe and Dixon streets.

The federal funds come as part of the Urban Transportation System program. The Portage County Urban Transportation System Committee has ranked the Church-Division project as the top priority in the county because that corridor is the most heavily traveled route in the county.

The money for the acquisition won't become available until July 2002, but the city has to begin preliminary stages for the program, which means identifying a route for the project. The state has assigned a timeline of 2005 for construction, giving the city and public time to work out further details of the project.

The special meetings on Tuesday follow a public open house on Wednesday, Aug. 15, that unveiled another proposed reconstruction of Business Highway 51 (Church and Division streets) from Dixon to Monroe Streets in Stevens Point.

The latest proposal calls for the acquisition of vacant buildings on the east side of the 2200 block of Division, once the main south side shopping area. In the last year or so, North Star Paint and Body Supply, EdRich TruValue Hardware, Point Bakery and Roska Pharmacy vacated the strip of buildings in that block.
The proposal also calls for the acquisition of the Poor Boys Auto shop in the 2300 block of Church Street that was recently vacated.

Removing the buildings in the 2200 block of Division would straighten a curve and eliminate vision problems at the intersection with Dixon Street.

Under the latest proposal, traffic signals would be added at the Church-Division intersection with Park and Madison streets because traffic counts at the intersection are the highest of any cross street in that neighborhood.

The proposal also retains Church as a northbound street west of Division and Strongs Avenue as a southbound street west of Division. A similar proposal unveiled last year called for Church Street and Strongs Avenue to reverse their one-way directions west of Division.

The proposal also calls for access to Church to be cut off on Monroe Street west of Church, with the city to determine the final layout of the triangular section of Division, Strongs and Monroe in that area.



	City will act on south side By GENE KEMMETER of The Gazette The Stevens Point Common Council will hold a special meeting Tuesday, Aug. 21, to deal with the south side business highway alignment plan and accept a contract to acquire property in the area. The special meeting will follow meetings of the Plan Commission, Finance Committee and Board of Public Works that begin at 6 p.m. in conference rooms 1 and 2 of the Portage County Courthouse Annex. The city needs to act on the contract to acquire property in the area by the end of the month, necessitating the special meeting, a day after the regular council meeting for August. The state Department of Transportation notified city officials June 27 that the city will receive up to $880,000 through a federal grant toward the $1.1 million project to improve the Business Highway 51 route in the city, primarily in the area between Monroe and Dixon streets. The federal funds come as part of the Urban Transportation System program. The Portage County Urban Transportation System Committee has ranked the Church-Division project as the top priority in the county because that corridor is the most heavily traveled route in the county. The money for the acquisition won't become available until July 2002, but the city has to begin preliminary stages for the program, which means identifying a route for the project. The state has assigned a timeline of 2005 for construction, giving the city and public time to work out further details of the project. The special meetings on Tuesday follow a public open house on Wednesday, Aug. 15, that unveiled another proposed reconstruction of Business Highway 51 (Church and Division streets) from Dixon to Monroe Streets in Stevens Point. The latest proposal calls for the acquisition of vacant buildings on the east side of the 2200 block of Division, once the main south side shopping area. In the last year or so, North Star Paint and Body Supply, EdRich TruValue Hardware, Point Bakery and Roska Pharmacy vacated the strip of buildings in that block. The proposal also calls for the acquisition of the Poor Boys Auto shop in the 2300 block of Church Street that was recently vacated. Removing the buildings in the 2200 block of Division would straighten a curve and eliminate vision problems at the intersection with Dixon Street. Under the latest proposal, traffic signals would be added at the Church-Division intersection with Park and Madison streets because traffic counts at the intersection are the highest of any cross street in that neighborhood. The proposal also retains Church as a northbound street west of Division and Strongs Avenue as a southbound street west of Division. A similar proposal unveiled last year called for Church Street and Strongs Avenue to reverse their one-way directions west of Division. The proposal also calls for access to Church to be cut off on Monroe Street west of Church, with the city to determine the final layout of the triangular section of Division, Strongs and Monroe in that area.