The City of Barron recognized a need to fully reconstruct a large portion of its downtown area to address deteriorating infrastructure and upgrade aesthetics along seven blocks of the community’s main corridor, La Salle Avenue.

Stretching from Mill Street (STH 25) eastward to 7^th Street, this project involved the replacement of city water, sanitary sewer, and storm sewer infrastructure, much of which was over 60 years old. It also removed existing galvanized service lines beneath the street to safeguard citizen health and comply with revisions to the U.S. EPA Lead and Copper Rule.

Photo courtesy of Barron News-Shield

La Salle Avenue also received a new road base course, pavement, sidewalk, curb and gutter, and streetlights throughout, with upgraded streetscaping to enhance the downtown aesthetic. These finishing touches include colored concrete sidewalk, boulevards and crosswalks, decorative light poles, new benches, planters, and trees — elements identified in the Barron Downtown Plan developed by MSA years prior.

Other highlights of the La Salle project include optimizing downtown space by creating “flex space” along the north side of the avenue. This eliminates the curb between the parking lane and the sidewalk, placing it between the travel lanes and the parking lanes instead. This allows the parking lane to be closed off so businesses can use that added space for things like sidewalk sales, outdoor seating, and temporary seasonal events. The relocation of the curb also nicely boosts ADA accessibility. Attention to pedestrian access and safety is also evident in new bump-out areas at intersections to improve visibility and make crossings shorter.

The La Salle Avenue reconstruction project received over $1 million from the Wisconsin DNR Safe Drinking Water Loan Program (SDWLP) and over $600,000 from the WDNR Clean Water Fund (CWF) to address the aging utility infrastructure. The project also secured $400,000 from the Wisconsin DOT’s Municipal Street Improvement Discretionary (MSID) program and Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds. The remainder was financed by the city via tax increment financing (TIF) with little impact to the general tax levy.

MSA provided planning, design, construction, and funding application and administration services for this $3.4M project. La Salle Avenue re-opened to traffic with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on September 20, 2024, a month earlier than projected. On April 16, 2025, Governor Tony Evers visited downtown Barron as part of a statewide tour highlighting initiatives from his 2025-27 Executive Budget that expand access to clean and safe drinking water in the state of Wisconsin.

Photo courtesy of Barron News-Shield