Board declines to approve week-long closure at 6th and Main; members demand contractor appear with plan

The La Crosse Board of Public Works on June 22 declined to approve a requested partial closure of eastbound Main Street at 6th Street and southbound 6th Street from Main to State for pavement replacement related to the 6th Street STP urban project.

Deputy Director Stephanie told the Board the project had been listed as partially complete last year and that spring rains revealed ponding at the 6th and Main intersection. "Since the contractor is still making minor changes and corrections, they have to fix this," she said, and that repairs would require roughly a week of closure. Stephanie also said a start date had not been set and that "they are supposed to" notify the public when closures occur.

Council Member Kalo objected to approving the closure without firmer guarantees, saying the downtown had endured "a very long disruptive project" recently and that earlier work sometimes lacked clear start and end dates. Kalo asked whether the Board could require tighter time limits to prevent a closure described as a week from stretching to months.

Director Gallagher responded that the Board could make requests but cannot dictate the contractor’s work schedule because the contract was managed by the state of Wisconsin. "This board can say or do whatever it wants, I guess, in terms of allowing closures, but we cannot dictate the work as this was not a contract that we ran," Gallagher said, adding the Board could ask the contractor to appear in person with a plan.

A motion to approve the closure (mover: Council Member McGaughgan; second: Director Gallagher) was called to a vote and failed. After the failed vote Board members discussed and expressed a preference that the contractor appear in person and provide a layout and timeframe for the work before the Board authorizes the closure; no subsequent vote on that direction was recorded in the meeting transcript.

Next steps: staff and the Board will seek to have the contractor present a plan and schedule to the Board; start dates and a final authorization for closure remain unspecified in the record.