From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
Posted: Dec. 14, 2006
On the morning of this winter's first blizzard, Mother Nature closed the median openings on Blue Mound Road in Waukesha County by piling them full of snow. Snowplows had other priorities, and some drivers who weren't paying attention still tried to cross, but most got stuck in the mounds of white stuff that filled the openings. Ironically, those closures may have made Blue Mound safer than it is on a perfectly clear day during the holiday shopping season.
To its credit, the state Department of Transportation has come up with a makeover plan for the roadway that is designed to make it safer by closing some of those median openings and making other changes. Those changes may inconvenience some drivers and businesses. But the bottom line should be safety, and Blue Mound right now isn't very safe. According to state figures, from 2000 to 2004, there were 2,300 crashes, or an average of 1.5 per day. That's one of the worst crash rates in the state.
Those crashes can't be blamed entirely on the road's design. Blue Mound generally carries about 45,000 vehicles a day on the 3-mile stretch between Barker and Moorland roads, anchored by Brookfield Square mall at Moorland. It's when the drivers of those vehicles make mistakes that accidents happen. Far too many speed, and others become distracted by the sheer number of vehicles they face or by searching for a business or restaurant.
"It's like an ugly racetrack, a demolition derby during the day," is how Town of Brookfield Supervisor Robert Flessas put it, and he's right.
Blue Mound can be made safer, and the state's plan is a good start. Under the
$1.5 million hazard elimination and safety program, the DOT would relocate one traffic signal, brighten all signals, replace signs, add one sign, repaint pavement markings, build two right-turn lanes and change the medians by closing about one-third of the openings and reconfiguring the rest. The idea behind the median changes would be to have drivers make only right turns out of most businesses on Blue Mound.
As we said, some drivers and businesses may be inconvenienced by the changes. One of the medians that would be closed, for example, is in front of a Best Buy store on the south side of Blue Mound in the Town of Brookfield. Westbound traffic now has to cross oncoming traffic to get into the store's parking lot. Under the DOT's plan, motorists would have to turn left at an earlier median or they could drive farther west to the next intersection at Janacek Road, which is controlled by traffic signals. In either case, they then would have to travel across several parking lots to get to Best Buy.
That may not be as simple as the current system, but crossing at a controlled intersection such as the one at Janacek would be safer. And that should be the bottom line for drivers and for businesses.
The plan right now is to hold public meetings next summer and in the spring of 2008, with construction taking place in the summer of 2008.
Some tweaking may be needed, and the city and town should do whatever they can to help the state, such as putting up better and more visible street signs. Citizens should chime in with their own ideas on what adjustments may be needed.
The sooner everyone gets on board with this plan, the smoother the process and the quicker the construction. And the sooner the construction gets done, the better for everyone.
Link: JS Online:.
Comments