Anyone walking around the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh campus in recent days has encountered barricades that are part of a sidewalk project to replace cracked and uneven sections.

Al Dix Concrete, of Kaukauna, has crews working on sidewalks that help students and staff make their way to classrooms, residence halls and parking lots.

The city project requires all work to be completed by Oct. 12, according to James Rabe, Oshkosh director of public works, but it is likely the sidewalk updates around campus will be completed by sometime next month. Crews began work on June 4.

“The city has a responsibility to ensure that all sidewalk within the public right of way is in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA),” Rabe said.

The city is divided into sections so the entire city is reviewed and worked on in a 10 to 11-year cycle. ADA guidelines establish maximum cross slopes, maximum joint deflection and maximum cracking that is allowed within the sidewalk, he said. The city’s Sidewalk Rehabilitation Program replaces sidewalk sections that do not comply with those requirements.

Future street work on Algoma Boulevard, High Avenue

With updates to sidewalks, it is natural to wonder about updates to the heavily traveled streets, High and Algoma, which wrap through the campus.

Rabe said High Avenue was resurfaced in 2011, but a number of Wisconsin Department of Administration projects since have required contractors to dig into the roadway to connect to the municipal utilities. With the number of pavement patches and water main breaks in the vicinity of Vine Street near Axel Tech, the quality of the street has been reduced.

“Algoma Boulevard has long not been on the city’s radar for resurfacing due to the uncertainty of Department of Administration projects and the desire to avoid a similar situation as High Avenue where the street is dug up and patched shortly after street resurfacing due to those projects,” Rabe said.

The battered street, though, is being considered for inclusion at the end of the next five-year Capital Improvement Plan. Such projects, he cautioned, are at risk of being bumped for funding due to the potential for other issues emerging with higher priority.

Rabe said some public streets in the vicinity of UW Oshkosh that are on their list for reconstruction include Lincoln Avenue, Cherry Street and McKinley Street. When the city’s 2018-2022 capital plan was prepared, those streets were included for construction in 2020.