I received several emails that provided some additional information and thoughts on the subject of the intersection at Mequon and Wausaukee Roads at the very east edge of the village.
Trustee Wolter was kind enough to send an email covering a meeting held at the Germantown Library on Thursday afternoon, April 24th. The City of Mequon and Village of Germantown were represented, Senator Darling and Representatives Ott and Jeskewitz attended and several Department of Transportation representatives were present.
The topic was the intersection in question and DOT was seeking a 'compromise' for the signalization of the intersection. The plan that was in process of implementation at that time was for two straight through lanes, dedicated left turn lanes with islands, and dedicated right turn lanes on Mequon with a single straight through lane traveling north and south on Wausaukee Road.
City of Mequon officials thought this was 'overkill' since they consider the area to be rural, and their planning supports that it will remain rural in their eyes. They preferred the roundabout solution and were pushing for that as the outcome of this meeting. Germantown officials wanted the intersection to stay as the DOT had designed and based this on the increased traffic due to Waste Management trucks and the increase in auto traffic east and west during weekday commute periods. They also foresaw an increase in traffic as building in TIF 4 increased. The DOT was looking out 20 years so far as design and capacity.
The 'compromise' that came from this meeting was this: a single straight through lane east and west on Mequon along with dedicated left hand and right hand turn lanes while Wausaukee stayed as designed with a single lane in both directions. The provision was that something might need to be rebuilt if traffic projections were to be reached in the next ten years.
Conversations I have had indicate that some are concerned about the village being required to pick up the future cost while the DOT is now paying 100% of the costs for the construction. Others have voiced the opinion that a roundabout was their preference, as well, and cited the thought that we may have been able to forego all construction if enforcement were to be stepped up in that area. Still others questioned the need for any change suggesting that there were single digit accidents per year from their observations.
So, there is apparently a compromise in place. Maybe this will stay in place since all the 'official' parties were at this table. As is customary, some of the 'unofficial' parties will continue to disagree. That is among the reasons we hold elections every few years.
