BELLEVILLE — A long-discussed safety improvement for Belleville is moving toward reality after the Village successfully secured $1,716,000 in competitive federal transportation funding to construct a pedestrian and bicycle underpass beneath State Highways 69/92 near the Belleville School District campus.
The award, made through the Wisconsin Department of Transportation’s Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP), is the culmination of years of work to address one of the community’s most persistent pedestrian-safety challenges.
The highway has long created a barrier between Belleville’s neighborhoods and its schools,seeing use by over 7,000 vehicles daily with traffic projected to increase to over 8,000 vehicles per day by 2042. This project will create a safe crossing between the growing residential neighborhoods north of the highway and Belleville’s schools, community pool, downtown, parks, trails, and other destinations to the south. Shared-use paths will extend west from the underpass to Olson Avenue and east to Grant Street, creating a continuous and accessible connection for pedestrians and bicyclists. The underpass will provide a safe path, allowing pedestrians and bicyclists to travel between neighborhoods and the school campus without having to navigate highway traffic.
The planned project will replace the existing box culvert near Haden Drive and the school driveway with a reinforced-concrete pedestrian underpass and separate drainage structure.
Lighting and other safety features will be incorporated into the design, and the connecting shared-use paths will be designed to meet accessibility standards.
The project grew directly out of Belleville’s 2025 Bike, Pedestrian, and Safe Routes to School Plan, funded through an earlier WisDOT planning grant. The planning process brought together residents, families, the School District of Belleville, Village officials, engineers, and WisDOT to examine pedestrian and bicycle needs throughout the community. An at-grade crossing, overpass, and underpass were evaluated, with the underpass ultimately selected as it was the most fiscally responsible option that did not compromise on the primary objective of keeping residents (particularly students) safe from traffic.
Belleville’s application was one of 49 projects selected statewide during the 2026–2030 TAP funding cycle which awarded approximately $32.6 million in federal grants through the competitive program.
For a community of Belleville’s size, successfully competing for outside funding is critical to accomplishing major infrastructure projects. The award brings more than $1.7 million in federal transportation funding into the community and substantially reduces the amount of eligible project costs that would otherwise have to be borne locally. It also reflects the Village’s growing emphasis on actively pursuing outside funding to accomplish community priorities while limiting the burden on local taxpayers.
The $1.716 million award will fund 80 percent of the project’s eligible construction and construction-engineering costs. The Village’s application estimated the overall project cost at approximately $2.64 million, including locally funded design, the required construction match, and anticipated utility costs. Final costs and responsibilities will be established as the project advances through design and the State/Municipal Agreement process.
The Village anticipates coordinating construction with WisDOT’s planned 2030 improvements to Highways 69 and 92. Completing the projects during the same construction season would reduce disruption to residents and motorists while allowing a major improvement to the corridor to occur alongside the highway reconstruction.
Once completed, the underpass will provide a safer route to school, reconnect neighborhoods divided by the highway, expand opportunities for walking and biking, and improve access to the center of the Village.
For Belleville, the $1.716 million award is something worth celebrating — a major investment won for the community and a major step toward a safer, better-connected Village.