Streetscape pace likely to impact Oktoberfest

A Walhalla councilman terms as “a real possibility” that Oktoberfest 2015 will arrive this fall without the finish of Streetscape.  It had been the hope of city leaders that the work on the entire four-block core commercial area could be finished by the third weekend in October, but delays throw that hope into question.  Councilman/Mayor Pro-tem Tjay Bagwell says, however, discussions have already begun as to how to ensure that the work interferes as little as possible with Oktoberfest downtown, as well as access from the downtown to the main events on Sertoma Field.  If the real possibility comes to be, Bagwell says, the general contractor will take a few days before the celebration to ensure that traffic lanes are clear and open so that people can get to Sertoma Field.  Bagwell also said some complications from the work so far have forced a change in the original intention to finish one block at a time before workers moved to the next block.  Those complications, he said, have a lot to do with a difference in street and sidewalk level elevations.