Racine Ave. Recreational Trail Pushed to 2014

With bids for the Racine Avenue recreational trail way over the city's budget, aldermen have decided to push work to 2014, Mayor Kathy Chiaverotti said.

The Racine Avenue Recreational Trail is a planned 8-foot wide asphalt trail on the west side of Racine Avenue from Woods Road to Culver's, just south of Janesville Road. The trail will be the final link in a loop that connects Woods, Moorland and Janesville together.


Work was supposed to be completed before the start of school. However, bids for the project came in at $526,874 and $583,243—far exceeding the city's budget of $292,000. 

Several late add-ons to the project drove the increase in cost, officials said in a report to aldermen.

Those additions included a retaining wall and railing, storm sewer and curb and gutter to meet Waukesha County requirements and a bioswale filtration system to satisfy the state Department of Natural Resources. They totaled about $249,000 in extra costs. 

And the delay to 2014 is expected to generate even more costs, according to Chiaverotti. 

Chiaverotti also said she is leery of the city's dependence on landfill fees to fund capital projects. The city must maintain at least a $1 million balance in the landfill fund per a contractual agreement, but it shouldn't even go that low, Chiaverotti said.

With many more capital projects planned in 2014 and in the years after, the city must keep a healthy balance in the landfill fund, she said. 

"A reserve over this ($1 million) amount is important for emergencies and future capital expenditures," she said in an e-mail.