Mequon Clog: The Blog of the Clog!

Once again, it is time to go to bed, so what does a completely inconsiderate construction company for the state of WI do? Yep, they start working. Where we're they during the day?! Not in Mequon.

There might be smooth road when this is done, but people are NOT going to forget this idiocy when it comes to taking care of a residential Mequon when they are standing in the voting booth.

At 6:30pm on a Wed. night, my wife made the mistake of going west on Mequon Rd. It took 15 min. from the light by Homestead high school to get past Hwy 57!

If this had been an actual emergency .. too bad!

Speaking of which, is the city and state ready to be sued if there is an actual emergency, G-d forbid! This is the worst planning for PUBLIC safety that I have ever seen. The ONLY concern is for a company that has started months behind and doesn't give a rip.

I just noticed on the MequonNow.com site the following:

THURSDAY, Sept. 13, 2007, 3:05 p.m.
By Tom Kertscher
Road closure part of project

Mequon - Range Line Road will be closed at Mequon Road from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday, Mayor Christine Nuernberg said.

The closure is part of the reconstruction of Mequon Road, she said.

I've gone down Range Line in the morning and see how much traffic gets backed up there -- now where are they going to go? While it is a useful site, I can't imaging that everyone is going to it daily to see what to "look forward to"!

If others can add to this sentiment, please let me know. It has become apparent from talking with others that there doesn't seem much rhyme or reason as to which sections of sidewalk and curbs were torn up and re-cemented. They skipped some back sections and redid others that weren't bad.

There might be some structural issues that aren't obvious to us "simple folk" of Mequon, but it would be nice to hear from just 1 person even what the heck is going on!

Did you get anything in the mail? I get a postcard in the mail when Joe down the street wants to make his garage bigger, why didn't I get even that about a job that so adversely affects me?!

Perhaps someone out there can fill me in on the advantages of resurfacing the road in asphalt rather than the cement that was being torn up?

Does asphalt last longer, resulting in less need of repair and resurfacing? Or is this taking a cheap option to ensure that there is future work that can be relied on?

Because the crew recently received permission to work on this poorly managed project at night! Not exactly the sound that puts one to sleep! I know that this probably gives away my location as it is a limited section of road and I only live a good block away from Mequon Rd. I can't imagine what it would be like living right next to this.

Hey, I'm all in favor of getting the job done. However, I went past this work area a number of times today and didn't see anything going on of significance. Why wait until night to pave? Because you only get 2x pay during the day and 3x at night on the weekend?!!!

Now comes the question of why the need to work at night. Because they started the project late and obviously don't have enough people. And if they don't have enough people, why go through and tear the entire 3+ mile stretch apart at one time?! But the reason I heard that they didn't have enough people is that the requirements for a minority percentage of sub-contract work wasn't easy to find. The reason -- they were busy with all of the Interstate roadwork in Downtown Milwaukee. Well, if that is the case, then isn't the quota requirements for minority sub-contractors being fulfilled already?!!! Should WI import out-of-state workers to build on WI roads?!

These are the worker preferred beverages. How do I know that? I see them littering the roadside all along Mequon Rd!

I don't have a picture, but I recently heard of two stories of inept wet cement labeling. The first down by Homestead left an older gentleman buried in wet cement when he tried to turn off Mequon Rd onto a side street. The second was of someone walking on the sidewalk and inadvertently walked right into wet cement.

This lack of proper identification of problem spots has been an ongoing issue with this project. Proper paths to take are not delineated. While street lights would help in some cases, it makes no sense to advocate changing the nature of the neighborhood to overcome shoddy work!

I'll add some hopeful news amongst the other frustrations ... the main complaints from the 8/26 postings have been taken care of. That is, the sewer cover, spike, construction tape.

At the same time, I have to still say that I have noticed other risks from poor delineation of work areas. There are ditches that can easily be driven into if one is not going super slow and cautious -- areas where the side streets are 1/2 blocked and there is construction on the adjoining sidewalk.

Tonight, I heard sirens from emergency vehicles -- I can only wonder at how much time was lost and what secondary damage to cars trying to get out of the way occurred.

More updates soon. Please send any you have to me via the email address at the top of the page.

- Clog Admin