Portage County, WI Sidewalk & Pedestrian Rules: Encroachment Permits (2026)

Sec. 3.14.5, part of the chapter governing the Portage County Highway Department, is issued under the authority of Wis. Stats. § 86.07(2), which lets a highway authority regulate access onto the highways it controls. Under this section, the Highway Department, not the individual towns, issues permits for the construction and alteration of driveway and other accesses onto the county trunk highway system, the numbered 'CTH' routes such as County Trunk Highway B through Plover or County Trunk Highway HH through Stevens Point and Whiting. The county assesses a flat $45.00 fee for driveways and streets of all types to offset the cost of reviewing the entrance permit application.

This entrance-permit process sits alongside two related county highway permits in the same chapter: Sec. 3.14.4 requires oversize and overweight vehicle permits, at $25.00 per single-trip permit, and Sec. 3.14.6 requires utility permits for facilities placed within the highway right-of-way, charging $50.00 for the first 500-foot segment and $35.00 for each additional 1,000-foot segment. Property owners along a state or municipal street, rather than a county trunk highway, apply to the state Department of Transportation or the city or village instead, since Sec. 3.14.5 only reaches accesses onto roads within the county trunk highway system.