Stevens Point Common Council clears path for Business 51 reconstruction to begin in 2026 – Stevens Point Journal

STEVENS POINT – The long planned and debated reconstruction of Business 51 will likely begin next spring but some early preparation work could be seen this year.
The Stevens Point Common Council voted Tuesday to amend an activist-written ordinance created via a direct legislation referendum in August 2022. The ordinance limited the city’s ability to plan construction projects that cost over $1 million, according to Mayor Mike Wiza.
Here’s what you need to know about the history of the Business 51/Division Street reconstruction project, what the project looks like now, a road referendum ordinance and the referendum that created the ordinance that was sparked by opponents of the project, and the recent changes to the ordinance by the Common Council.
AECOM recently completed a 60% design of the project, Scott Beduhn, director of public works, told a Stevens Point Journal reporter Wednesday. City staff and Common Council will review this stage of a regular design process that develops large project plans across four major stages.
While the city finalizes the plans for the multi-stage street reconstruction project this year, visible construction on the corridor in 2025 will be the work of private utilities and property owners either moving their equipment or preparing their properties for the city to begin street reconstruction work next year, Beduhn said.
Within a few months, the city will begin to contact landowners and private utility companies to work with them on removing conflicts with the planned construction site.
The “north section” of Business 51, between the intersection with North Point Drive and Fourth Avenue, is planned to be funded largely through funds available in Tax Incremental Financing District 5 and will likely proceed with construction during the spring of 2026. The city’s 2025 budget included a $1.7 million allocation for “Business 51 Construction” in the plan for TID 5.
The city will continue to seek grants and other funding sources that may allow reconstruction to begin in early 2026 on a section of the “south section” of the Business 51 project, Beduhn said.
The Common Council voted in 2005 to take on the maintenance responsibility of the former state-sponsored roadway in exchange for $6 million.
Initial plans were introduced by Mayor Andrew Halverson in 2013 and were immediately subject to debate and revision. The plan was shelved in 2014 and $9 million set aside for the project were used for the Hoover Avenue overpass, which was completed in 2017. The Division Street project was expected to cost $38 million at the time.
Planning for Division Street resumed in late 2019 when the Common Council approved a $1.1 million contract with infrastructure consulting firm AECOM to develop a new plan for reconstructing the popular travel corridor.
The firm carried out a planning process that included virtual meetings due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. By late 2021, residents and voters were demanding a referendum for reasons ranging from cost to design. An activist-written ordinance that aimed to halt the project was approved by voters and went into effect in August 2022. The project went into an additional planning phase to prepare for a potential referendum on the project.
An additional feasibility study was performed in late 2023 regarding a roundabout planned for the intersection with Fourth Avenue, and the Common Council reaffirmed reconstruction plans in April 2024.
The activist-written ordinance required a referendum on construction projects that cost the city over $1 million. The ordinance was approved by Stevens Point voters via direct legislation referendum Aug. 9, 2022, by a 31-vote margin.
On Tuesday. the Common Council voted 10-1, with amendments to the ordinance that change the threshold to require a referendum to $15 million excluding the cost for utility work, which can range in proportionate value from project to project.
The Finance Committee approved a $20 million threshold at its Jan. 13 meeting, but an amendment introduced Tuesday by Marc Christianson, Common Council president and District 1 alderperson, was approved 7-4 to reduce the amount to require a referendum to $15 million.
There have been six referenda held in two elections on major construction projects since the ordinance’s creation in 2022. Four of the projects were typical street reconstruction projects on several streets across the city. Two were for infrastructure expansion projects.
All six of the referenda were approved by voters.
Yes. The city has completed dozens of smaller projects that have cost less than the $1 million threshold set by the ordinance ranging from park improvement projects to sidewalk repairs.
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Erik Pfantz covers local government and education in central Wisconsin for USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin and values his background as a rural Wisconsinite. Contact him atepfantz@gannett.com.

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