Mequon Clog: The Blog of the Clog!

On the way out this morning and going across Mequon Rd several times, I noticed that the work from last night left a 3-4 inch drop as one crosses from the north side of the road into the medians. Only an approximate 2 inch increase coming out onto the south side of Mequon Rd.

Going only about 2 mph, I ran into the issue that my car didn't want to go up the 3-4 inch abrupt increase on the way back home. Once I gave it enough gas to get over the ridge, the back tires slammed hard into that ridge -- again, I was only moving a few mph.

It appears that this road difference exists for many blocks along the road. Nothing marking the ridge and no gravel to smooth it out. This isn't being "in a hurry in a fancy car on the cell phone" on my part but simply the lack of common sense on the development plan.

From an anonymous Email
My problems with this construction are too numerous to mention--I'll limit myself to a couple: In one instance my husband (with our two sons) was coming out of Stonefields one evening at dusk when he drove into a hole that was not marked clearly! He has a jeep, so was able to get out without assistance, but needless to say, they were shaken up. The same thing almost happened to me when I was coming out of Lumen Christi on a Sunday morning. The barriers are very confusing!

One night it took me 40 minutes to go from the Pavillion up to Portland Road, off of Port. Construction at the intersection of Port and Mequon was almost at a complete standstill. It turned out that only one lane was open--the left turn lane! All traffic had to stop for any car turning left--insane, at 5:30 in the evening! Clog note: See comment on recommendation to move more cars through in same time

When this construction was about to start, they said to use alternate routes--which I was prepared to do, until they started tearing up Wauwatosa Road, as well! On both Mequon Road and Wauwatosa Road I have rarely seen anyone working. I will definitely remember this when it comes time to vote. If it wasn't for the danger and inconvenience, I'd be laughing at the stereotypical slowness of this government job!

Towards the beginning of the school year, the sidewalk repair group worked on high-traffic areas to increase safety. Unfortunately, the clean-up crew has not come afterwards to fill in the gaps around these repairs. The area around the construction is mostly residential. That means families. That means kids. As much as we can give directions to our children to stay on the sidewalks, they like to walk ahead a bit or in groups. In the evening hours, the lack of light only exacerbates the problem. The photo to the right is where a friend's 3 yr old daughter fell into. Fortunately, she was not hurt, just scared. You can see that the weeds have grown to obscure the danger.

As the leaves fall, the problem will only become more hidden. As the snow falls, we can expect to face major trenches of water buildup in the Spring.

Besides the tire and axle damage that local repair shops have had an increase in (there is some offset from this project due to the tremendous loss of business from people avoiding the area), this anonymous submission is just one example of other damage.

Living on a road only accessible via Mequon Road, my family has no choice but to endure the fun that has come with all the construction. In addition to increased commute times, serious road rage, and trying (but not always succeeding) to navigate poorly marked off intersections and medians, I have had the distinct pleasure of experiencing damage to my vehicle as well. I called the DOT contact listed on the Mequon Web site just to discuss some of my concerns, including the fact that the freshly paved side of the road drivers were using was littered in large rocks from the demolition on the unfinished side. It was one such rock that was kicked up by a slow-moving compact car that managed to crack my windshield. Is it too much to expect that the road ways will be reasonably clear of debris? I suppose it doesn’t much matter to her as she never returned my call.

So, in addition to waiting what seems like a lifetime for the completion of this poorly planned project, I now have my own little souvenir from the Mequon Road disaster.

Below is a letter recently emailed to me.
My comment: I never received a notice about a regularly scheduled public information meeting -- where is this notice?
-------------------

Thought the blog might like to see how the DOT sees this project!
How many people have seen them working during the evening?

October 11,2007

Dear __________

Thank you for your email on ________ and your interest in this project on State Highway 167 (Mequon Road). I understand your concern and empathize with you for the inconvenience this construction project may have caused you.

Our overall goal for the State of Wisconsin Transportation System is to ensure safe and efficient traffic flow both now and well into the future. Due to the aging infrastructure we are challenged with needs along the entire system.

The quickest way to improve the construction project would be to close it to traffic and allow the contractor to "get in and out" as quickly as possible without having to deal with traffic. However, this is not practical due to the businesses, schools, churches and residential along this project. For these reasons we utilize stage construction.

In addition we are working at night to help reduce the conflicts and delays with the public utilizing this highway. It may appear that little work is being done, however as I mentioned above some of this work is occurring at night and some of this work is underground. Examples would be storm sewer; traffic signal electrical conduit and loops are being installed. Despite the heavy rains we have seen the concrete contractor missed only one day on the project due to rain, yet we received record rainfall of 18 inches in the month of August.

Also I can assure you that public comments received at our scheduled Public Informational Meetings are incorporated into the projects. We are trying to construct this project as quickly and safely as possible, which includes utilizing night and staged construction to minimize impacts to the public.

If you would like an update on the construction schedule please feel free to call me at 262-521-5335.

Sincerely

Michael J. Murphy PE
Project Development Supervisor
Wisconsin Department of Transportation
Southeast Region
262-521-5335

Addition to this posting: The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinal published an expanded story of this situation Oct. 26th.
Addition: Mike Nichols posts refers to his own experience with the lack of clear construction markerings.
Addition: National Attention on ABC News

The MequonNow.com site posted an article about 10 motorists getting stuck in wet concrete. How can 10 people be so dumb as to drive into wet concrete?! After all, it surely must have been delineated with blinking lights and tape!

Obviously, those who live near Mequon Rd know better. The concern for public safety does not exist. It took nearly two weeks to put a little ramp at the two gigantic bumps at Port and MequonRd. When driving west on Mequon Rd from Port, I'm often left driving on the curb extension because the barrels are sporadically so far into the road. And judging from what I just read, if I accidentally hit one, I'll be facing a ticket!

Email 1
What I would like to know is why didn't the State simply have one side of the road done first and then do the other side. They used this method elsewhere.

Also does anyone know if the completion date is still "November".

Email 2
Fortunately I don't have to use that section of highway too often. However I was on it the other day and was just incredulous to observe that a major portion of it seemed to remain relatively untouched for months! During the 15 minutes it took me to negotiate the torn up road coming off of I43 North, I mused how nice it would be if a manageable section of roadwork could be done quickly before tearing up another section.

Email 3
According to the JS story 10/26, the police are considering whether to ticket the folks who drove into the wet concrete. That is outrageous. Those folks should file claims against WDOT and the City and sue J&A Pohl. These conditions have been and are dangerous, and someone in City government (including the Police Department) should wake up.

Email 4 -- Mequon Rd near Cedarburg Rd
My wife and I were coming home one evening going East on Mequon to turn into Thiensville. That intersection is ripped up to Hades. The barrels were all over the place. The intersection was not well lighted and there were shadows. I could not discern markings on the ripped up road. I had a green light, turned left from the left hand lane with no oncoming traffic . . . and . . . poof . . . we were pulled over by the Mequon police for making a left hand turn without the "left hand turn light" being on. You have got to be kidding me. After 15 minutes at the side of the road, suffering immeasurable embarrassment we were on our way without a ticket but a warning. The officer understood the confusion of the intersection and allowed me to continue on my way (after checking my plates and license of course) and was quite apologetic about the state of the road and intersection. The Mequon police were fairly understanding.

I finally had a chance to download a photo taken on a foggy morning (most had burned off by the time at the time of the photo). Imagine someone at night -- this looks like a field go to go through, not way around.

This is the first photo from the car:

And a close-up to see the lack of yellow tape and exactly what someone could be hitting if they weren't paying attention:

The other day, a friend mentioned how he got a new sun roof at no charge. He forgot about the bump and ... instant head through the roof!

After about 8-10 days, the construction workers were nice enough to put a little 10 inch cone on the left-hand side of the bump up to Mequon Rd at Port Washington Rd.

Brilliant!

It is now nearly 2 weeks and nobody has bothered to smooth out this bump. Just like this project, when you think that they have to be taking care of something any day now, it just keeps on going and going. What are they doing? Communication people!!

That is not figuratively, but actually hitting the dang road. I came off 43 and went west. Just after the intersection, I hit the paved road so dang hard that I nearly hit my head on the roof of the car!!! I get home and my wife says that it is the same going onto Port Rd south from Mequon Rd.

What the heck are they doing -- trying to destroy the axles on our cars and not just the tires?!!!!

I don't want to direct this towards those doing the work, but this more than poor planning, this is the complete lack of concern for those using the road.

Mayor wake up and take control. Anyone running against you need only connect you and the road construction.

As I continue to point out the problems just in my own little section, here is another ...

While trying to take the kids to school, I tried to exit down Robin Ln onto Mequon Rd, going east. No can do. It is blocked off by construction activity and vehicles (at least they were working). So, I had to go west. I tried to get into what should be a left turn lane, after all, there is a light for one. But the lane doesn't exist at all. If I followed the laws 100%, I would of had to block traffic in the single lane for everyone to go west while I waited for the cycle of lights in order to get the official left turn light. Needless to say, I did not follow the law to the T and allowed the other unfortunate drivers to continue west without my obstruction.

As an aside, I was unable to go east on Mequon Rd for the simple reason it is illegal to make a U-turn at a controlled intersection. Why is it that we have to follow all of the detailed laws while the city and state, represented by the "construction" company, don't?!!!

While I don't know why a fire engine was even attempting to go down Mequon Road, I witnessed one getting stuck with its lights flashing and being followed by an ambulance, also with lights flashing.

Due to the 1-lane syndrome, I saw that that the fire engine and ambulance were behind a large semi just east of the Range Line intersection. Once the semi got to the opening near Robin, it tried to allow the two "emergency" vehicles pass. Well, they couldn't. The semi had to back up to allow the fire engine and ambulance to sneak through in front of it.

If this doesn't fall in the definition of insane, I don't know what does! How much additional damage was done, or worse if there was a life-threatening situation, due to the fire engine and ambulance being however many minutes late?!!!

I also don't understand how the city sits back and does not do anything to protect its citizens from this activity.

I heard of two people last week that tripped while walking at night due to the extreme lack of safety markings. Fortunately, nothing major happened.

I don't understand how this project gets away with repeatedly creating safety problems and not properly delineating them. When the side roads north of Mequon Road were repaved last summer, all of the barricades had the yellow blinking lights on top. If that was done for side roads, wouldn't it make more sense to be doing it for high-traffic work?!