Eau Claire Cannery District advances redevelopment with infrastructure upgrades

EAU CLAIRE, WISC. (with excerpts from weau.com) – The Eau Claire city council has approved a $2 million plan to replace utilities and pavement on a stretch of Oxford Avenue and Maxon Street. City officials see this section as the gateway to the Cannery District, which they say is starting to grow–and which is the focus of a new redevelopment plan being developed by Vandewalle & Associates.

In recent weeks City engineers invited public input about their plans for the Cannery District infrastructure projects.

“The last 50, 60, 70 years this portion of Eau Claire, and Oxford Avenue was Highway 12 at one point, so it was an important transportation corridor, and now with that part of the city being redeveloped and more energy spilling over from downtown in that area,” said Eau Claire City Engineer Dave Solberg. “We felt the transportation into that area, whether it be on foot or on bike or in a car kind of greets you and creates a gateway as you access the future businesses and development.” 

Solberg says that stretch is one of the worst in the city, and that they were waiting to make improvements until development started to take off. “We viewed it as a gateway into the area with higher aesthetic streetscape,” Solberg said. While it will be somewhat similar to Barstow Street in downtown Eau Claire, he noted that the look will be not the same so the Cannery District gets its own identity. 

Construction is expected to being sometime this year or next spring.