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Five-Year Roadway Capital Improvement Plan
Each year, the Town of Grand Chute develops a five-year Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) to identify roadway projects and prioritize investments in the community's transportation system. The goal is to maintain safe, reliable roads while making the most effective use of taxpayer dollars.
Roadway projects are evaluated using a variety of factors rather than any single criterion. This ensures that available funding is directed toward projects that provide the greatest benefit to Grand Chute residents, businesses, and visitors.
1. Available Funding
The first consideration is the amount of available funding over the next five years. Funding may come from local revenues, borrowing, state transportation aids, grants, or other sources. Because roadway needs typically exceed available funding, projects must be prioritized.
Project timing is also influenced by grant opportunities. Certain projects may be programmed in a specific year to align with state or federal funding programs, helping maximize outside funding and reduce the local tax burden.
2. Roadway Condition
Road conditions are assessed using the PASER (Pavement Surface Evaluation and Rating) system, which is conducted every two years. PASER ratings identify deteriorating roads and help determine the most cost-effective treatment before conditions worsen.
Maintaining roads at the right time costs significantly less than waiting until major reconstruction becomes necessary. For this reason, some projects are prioritized to preserve a roadway before its condition deteriorates to the point of requiring more extensive and costly repairs.
3. Functional Classification
Roads serve different purposes within the transportation network and are prioritized accordingly.- Arterial roads carry the highest volumes of traffic and connect major destinations.
- Collector roads gather traffic from neighborhoods and direct it to arterials.
- Local roads primarily provide access to homes and businesses.
Projects on arterial and collector streets often receive higher priority because they serve more users and play a critical role in the overall transportation network within Grand Chute.
4. Traffic Volumes, Public Benefit, and Regional Function
Roads carrying higher traffic volumes generally affect more residents, businesses, and visitors. Traffic data helps identify projects that provide the greatest public benefit by improving travel for the largest number of users.
This factor is particularly important in Grand Chute due to the community's significant commercial, retail, and economic activity. While the Town's resident population is relatively modest, daily traffic volumes increase substantially due to visitors, shoppers, workers, and others traveling throughout the community.
In many ways, Grand Chute's transportation network serves a regional function. Major commercial corridors, shopping areas, businesses, and regional destinations attract travelers from throughout the Fox Valley and surrounding communities, resulting in traffic volumes higher than expected based solely on the Town's population. As a result, arterial and collector roadways that support these regional travel patterns often experience greater wear and require more frequent maintenance and investment to maintain safe and reliable travel for all users.
Traffic volumes are one of several factors the Town uses to identify projects with the greatest public benefit and to focus transportation investments on roadways serving the largest number of users.
5.Safety, Bicycle, Pedestrian, and Intersection Improvements
Safety is a major factor in project selection. The Town evaluates crash history, roadway design concerns, visibility issues, pedestrian crossings, bicycle accommodations, school routes, and other safety-related factors when prioritizing improvements.
Opportunities are also identified to improve the overall transportation network through planned bicycle and pedestrian facilities, intersection improvements, traffic operations enhancements, and accessibility upgrades.
When coordinated with roadway projects, these improvements may influence timing and scope to maximize safety, connectivity, and overall transportation benefits.
6. Coordination with Utility Projects
Whenever possible, roadway improvements are coordinated with planned utility work such as water, sanitary sewer, or stormwater projects.
Coordinating projects reduces costs, minimizes repeated construction impacts, and helps ensure newly improved roads are not disturbed shortly after construction.
7. Coordination with State and County Projects
When state or county roadway improvements are planned within or adjacent to Grand Chute, local projects may be scheduled to coincide with those efforts. Coordinating construction can improve efficiency, reduce costs, minimize disruptions, and leverage outside funding opportunities.
Project timing may also be adjusted to account for major state or county construction projects. In some cases, delaying or advancing a Town project may help reduce the overall community impact by avoiding multiple major disruptions in the same area at the same time. Maintaining reasonable access and mobility throughout the community is an important consideration when developing the five-year program.
8. Network Importance, Connectivity, and Future Growth
Roadways that connect neighborhoods, schools, parks, businesses, shopping areas, and emergency services may receive higher priority because they play an important role in the overall transportation network.
The Town also considers future land use plans, anticipated development, redevelopment opportunities, economic development goals, and long-term transportation needs when programming roadway improvements. This helps ensure roadway investments support both current transportation demands and Grand Chute's future growth.
Conversely, dead-end streets and cul-de-sacs typically serve fewer users and may receive lower priority when compared with roads that provide broader community benefit.
Maximizing Community Value
No single factor determines whether a project is included in the Town of Grand Chute's Five-Year Capital Improvement Plan. Instead, Town staff and elected officials balance roadway condition, safety, traffic volumes, functional classification, network importance, bicycle and pedestrian needs, coordination opportunities, future development, grant funding, and available financial resources to create a program that delivers the greatest value to the community.
The result is a transparent, data-driven approach that preserves infrastructure, improves safety, supports economic activity, and uses public resources responsibly while maintaining a transportation network that serves Grand Chute residents, businesses, visitors, and the broader region that depends on it for safe and reliable travel.
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