Several sections of Mequon Rd no longer exhibit the drainage that they had prior to the project. While there can be many reasons for this from the slant of the underlying dirt, one would hope that the engineers could do something to alleviate this lakes.

On a completely different note, it is interesting to see the snow removal patterns. Since Mequon Rd is a state highway, this "global warming" winter has the odd situation where the side streets are often better to travel on than Mequon Rd. It seems incredibly inefficient that there isn't a contract with the city of Mequon to handle the main thoroughfare.

While the Mayor sent a note stating that project would be completed the Wed. before Thanksgiving, evidence proves otherwise.

• I see that the white line painting at Mequon Rd/Port Rd was completed yesterday -- good thing for "global warming" to hold the typical WI weather off!
• Yesterday, getting of at Mequon Rd from Hwy 43 proved to be complete chaos. Yes, people were trying to get around the issue, but no signs indicating what to anticipate. Mequon Rd just west of the Hwy 43 offramp at the gas station was closed to one lane due to some major work on the side of the road.
• There are still numerous orange barrels on both sides of the road and equipment at various locations.
• I don't know if there is to be a right-hand white line painted on the road, but there isn't one now except at turns onto side streets.

Is the project done or not?

And a total aside -- and I've been told that this not a requirement on rework on existing roads -- I'm surprised that there was no attempt at all to put in even a narrow bike lane. It would have been a good opportunity given that many curbs were torn up. At this time, when there is an increase in biking both because of fitness and gas prices, one would think that this would have been a potential at the time of the project design. Probably would have resulted in additional gov't support to boot! Instead, it will be a huge $$ cost if that ever gets pushed forward.

So, this project will be completed before Thanksgiving -- I don't think that the Vegas odds would be too good on that one despite the obvious increase in work over the past several weeks.

Will "Businesses be open as usual" or will they be near bankruptcy from losing customers and business over the past 4-5 months and not having much better luck on Friday?

A beautiful moment the other night...coming off the exit from 43, go down to Port and Mequon Road...Two construction guys standing in the middle of the intersection. One guy yelling at the other "control the intersection, control the intersection!" Then he starts yelling "Get the girls (with the signs) over here"

He then proceeds to direct all traffic the wrong way on Mequon Road, directing them to go westbound in eastbound lane. About four cars start on that lane, and then stop dead, and were still in that position after I was finally able to go. This is all the while totally neglecting every other line of cars waiting at the lights, and totally ignoring the traffic signals.

It was actually hilarious, except for the fact that I waited at the light for over 15 minutes.

Mequon man killed in accident

A Mequon man was killed Thursday night on Interstate 43 when a tire from a semitrailer truck dislodged and struck the man's vehicle, police said. The 55-year-old man was pronounced dead at the scene by a medical examiner. There were no other passengers in his car.

Police said the man was driving his 2007 BMW northbound on I-43, just south of Silver Spring Drive at about 6:43 p.m. when the tire came off the southbound truck, bounced over the retaining wall and hit the BMW's windshield on the driver's side. The sheriff's department said the truck involved didn't stop and deputies are searching for the driver. Authorities have no descriptions of the truck at this time.

"Maybe he doesn't know what happened. We're desperately asking for the public's help," said Kim Brooks, a spokeswoman for the sheriff's department. Anyone with information is asked to call (414) 278-4788. Glendale police and the North Shore Fire Department assisted at the scene.

I may have been the first to get stuck in wet concrete on Mequon Rd at the intersection of Parkview Dr. Back on September 14, at 6 pm, I was going east on Mequon Rd. and was stopped in the median at the entrance to Parkview Dr. I was waiting for a gap in the continuos traffic going west. Finally the traffic came to a standstill and a car stopped short of the intersection to let me pass through. I turned into the Parkview Dr. entrance and dropped off into over a foot of fresh poured concrete.

There were no barricades or tape across the lane I was in. One of the workmen pointed to the east and said "didn't I see the barricade?" I said "I was coming from the west not the east so how would I see any barricades to the east?" They had also sprinkled dry cement on the fresh surface that made the dark concrete look white and dry. I think this was meant as part of the trap.

Gierach's Service spent hours trying to chisel off as much as they could but because the frame of my car is a box beam construction with two inch holes in the bottom, the concrete went up inside the beams and solidified. Now it is permanently part of the car. My car weighs several hundred pounds more now and drives like a tank.

On another subject, in my opinion the rebuilt road will last about five years before it becomes the bumpy mess it was before they started. I am a registered professional engineer and in my military years I did inspections of airfield runways. The workmanship and lack of proper rebaring will lead to rapped deterioration of the underlayment. Won't it be great to go through this again in a few years.

Clog comment: Why aren't the police ticketing the company for this one?!!!

Update 11/13: While the main project is to be completed by the 21st, there will be many "islands" of construction that will continue for another couple of months.

Last night, 11/7/07, I returned back to Mequon at around 10pm. I took exit 85 Northbound and got off the ramp. As I am turning left, I can see ahead bright construction worklights working on Mequon Road/Port Washington. Now for those who travel here, the most recent change for those crossing Mequon Road and Port to go West on Mequon Road have two choices: a LEFT TURN ONLY lane and the right hand side lane for going straight and making a right.

So following the signs and markings, I go to the right hand lane to go straight. The problem is the workers on Port and Mequon road have blocked off my lane in the middle of Port rd, and now I have to move in to the LEFT TURN LANE to go straight ahead.

The cars in the LEFT TURN ONLY lane realise that cars going straight will COLLIDE with their cars so they start moving over.

This debacle gets going with the green light and we have two lanes of traffic trying to work in one tight lane.

There were three workers, two standing around, no signage, guidance or clue as to what to do.

These are city streets that must be governed by some directives for health and safety.

Cars having no clear routes are going to cause accidents that could injure those working and those on the road.

Does anyone care? What does OSHA say?

Mr. *******,

I share your frustration with this poorly handled project. I have contacted the DOT and asked them to respond to your complaint. If I don't have a response by Thursday morning I will contact them again.

Jim Ott

To: Project Manager 167 project, DOT

I am really appalled at how the Mequon Rd. 167 project is progressing. I feel one of the major problems is the horrible traffic markings and barricade placements. I think if this could be improved it would make a big difference. I live right off of 167 and have to make a u turn to turn into my street. Every day, it is a different traffic pattern, that is virtually unmarked. During the darkness, it is truly extreme and I am thankful that I have not fallen into a pit since this project started.

Non reflective "caution" tape is NOT sufficient to alert drivers where to turn at u-turns, especially at night. It is ridiculous, and every night I am confused. This is going to get even worse as the days are shorter.

This project has become a real nightmare for those of us living on or near 167. Why can't you implement incentives to the construction companies to work at night and/or weekends, and faster. Most days I see just a few workers. The progress is ridiculously slow, and the driving conditions are not only hard on one's car but dangerous.

Just the other day, there were NO indications of a left turn lane in both directions on Mequon Road. It was finally rectified over the weekend, but not until I saw numerous near accidents and traffic tie ups because of it.

Why don't you get a traffic engineer to go out and drive the road to give you some feedback about how to better mark the road.

I am really fed up!

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.

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.

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