West College Avenue between downtown Appleton and Fox River Mall has an adopted vision, endorsed by the county, the city and the Town of Grand Chute. It does not have a construction year, a cost estimate or a final lane count. During the same stretch of time, a former car dealership lot at 1932 W. College Ave. became a taproom with sand volleyball courts, and a new coffee drive-through opened farther west in Grand Chute.
For anyone who drives this corridor every week, the order matters. The road is the slowest-moving piece of the plan. For the next few years, the changes along West College will come from the businesses opening beside it, and the street itself will look much the same as it does today.
What All Three Governments Have Actually Signed
The plan is called A NEW Avenue: One Route, Endless Possibilities. It covers about 2.5 miles of West College Avenue, which is also State Trunk Highway 125, from Mall Drive by Fox River Mall east to Richmond Street at the edge of downtown. Outagamie County led the work with the City of Appleton, the Town of Grand Chute and the East Central Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission. The road itself belongs to WisDOT, which owns and maintains STH 125 and has to be part of any rebuild.
The approvals came through in the fall of 2025:
- Outagamie County Board adopted a resolution supporting the vision on September 9, 2025.
- City of Appleton took up a resolution supporting the shared vision at its September 24, 2025 Plan Commission meeting. WHBY reported on October 3, 2025 that city officials liked the plan.
- Town of Grand Chute approved resolution TBR-12-2025 supporting the vision document on October 21, 2025.
What they endorsed is a shared direction. In that same WHBY story, Mayor Jake Woodford said no construction timetable had been set, though the municipalities now had a plan for when the work does happen. Fox 11 reported in September 2025 that no cost estimate existed and described construction as "2027 and beyond." The vision document lays out the sequence: about five years of design, engineering and funding work with WisDOT, and roadway reconstruction after that.
As of this October, the project's website still says it is "wrapping up Phase 1 of a multi-phased, multi-year project." No newer construction start date has been published, and no WisDOT project entry for this stretch has turned up.
What's Still Only On Paper
Most of the street improvements people picture when they hear about this plan are recommendations to study, not commitments. The vision document separates the two throughout.
| Element | Status in the vision document |
|---|---|
| Number and width of travel and turn lanes | To be evaluated; no final lane count given |
| Frontage-road system | An alternative to evaluate, as long as property access is kept |
| Intersections and access points | Alternatives to be studied |
| Trails or bike lanes, wider sidewalks | Recommended |
| Accessible, sheltered transit stops; high-visibility crossings; refuge islands | Recommended |
| Curbs and gutters replacing open ditches, plus stormwater treatment | Recommended |
| Landscaped medians | Presented as a possible enhancement the community asked for |
| Trees, planters, lighting, wayfinding, public art | Streetscape concepts |
The public art is the clearest example. Between December 2024 and May 2025, the project ran what it called a "Public Art Demonstration – Community Review." The project site presents it as concepts from five artists, not as finished installations. Two of those concepts are Dean Wydeven's "Route 125" and Neo and Valerie Medina's "Connected by Color." Both appear on the site as proposals, and the project pages do not show that either one was ever built.
The Frontage Road Question
The design detail with the biggest effect on daily driving here is the pair of frontage roads running along both sides of West College. They decide how you reach a storefront, where you turn and how you get back onto the main road.
WHBY summarized the shared vision as "doing away with the frontage roads on both sides to simplify business access." The county's own document is more cautious. It lists removing the frontage roads as an alternative to evaluate, on the condition that property access is kept. As of this fall, nothing published settles the question. The frontage roads remain part of the corridor as it exists now, and whether they stay will be decided during the design and engineering phase.
That gap between the plan and any construction year is where private projects have stepped in.
Building Ahead Of The Road
Ope! Brewing Co. poured its first beers at Ope! North, 1932 W. College Ave., on August 21, 2026. The taproom sits on the former Car City dealership site, which Fox 11 described in January when construction started. It is the brewery's second location. The first is in West Allis.
In its opening-day story, Fox 11 placed the taproom in a part of the city "you wouldn't exactly call vibrant." It also reported that local officials see Ope! North as a catalyst ahead of the county's plan to redo the road. Outagamie County Executive Tom Nelson told Fox 11 he was "very, very grateful, very delighted that a company is going to build ahead of [the road] project." He also said that "the secret for any redevelopment is to have mixed use space."
The finished site is planned as five buildings on 2.35 acres. On opening day, only the indoor and outdoor taprooms, the sand volleyball courts and the cornhole were open. Fox 11 reported that later phases would add pickleball, golf simulators, a separate dog-wash building, live music, and space for business events and weddings. The Ope! North website now lists 2027 additions: the Udder, a second tasting room; Hoopla Hall, a private-event space; more cornhole lanes; and pickleball. It does not give opening dates for any of them.
For a weeknight visit, the posted details are the useful ones. Ope! North is open Monday through Thursday from 3 to 9 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. It does not serve food. Carry-in food is allowed, food trucks are on site daily with two or three on weekends, and High Kaliber BBQ is scheduled Wednesday through Saturday from 5 to 8 p.m.
The Other New Addresses On The Corridor
Ope! North is the biggest project, but it is not the only 2026 opening on this stretch.
- 7 Brew, 3305 W. College Ave., Grand Chute. The drive-through coffee chain's second Fox Cities location opened June 29, 2026, according to the Post-Crescent.
- Beaute Couture, 1619 W. College Ave., Appleton. The nail salon owned by sisters Ceece and Nalee Yang held its grand opening July 19, 2026, the Post-Crescent reported.
- Ope! North, 1932 W. College Ave., Appleton. Opened August 21, 2026, as Insight on Business also reported.
These three are spread along the corridor from the Appleton side to the Grand Chute side. All three opened in a single summer, on a road whose rebuild is still years from a start date.
How The Money Is And Isn't Organized
Appleton has two tax incremental districts touching West College, but each covers only a section. TID #10 runs along the north side of West College from Lilas Drive to Linwood Avenue. TID #12 covers the stretch from Badger Avenue and Story Street to Walnut Street. Both are separate redevelopment districts. Nothing published so far ties either one to paying for the 2.5-mile reconstruction. According to the vision document, that funding is still to be worked out with WisDOT.
What This Means For The Drive You Already Make
For the foreseeable future, West College will look and drive like it does now. It will have the same lane layout and the same frontage roads, and some sections will still have open ditches where the vision eventually calls for curbs and stormwater treatment. The project website listed no new public engagement events as of this fall. The design and engineering phase, once it starts, is where the lane count, medians and frontage roads will be decided.
In the meantime, change on the corridor is happening one property at a time. Ope! North's 2027 additions are the next dated items on the corridor's calendar. Fox 11 reported that Ope! North could help drive housing and other commercial development along the corridor.
If you own a home near West College Avenue and wonder how a corridor plan with no construction date figures into a future sale or purchase, I'm happy to walk through what's adopted, what's still being studied, and what that means for your property. Amanda Lee Homes is here when you're ready. Let's Connect.
