DOT project to consist of a mill and overlay, road to be open throughout most of project
By Kellen Olshefski
Editor
Representatives from the Wisconsin DOT met with residents of Williams Bay Tuesday night for an informal session to discuss the details of a maintenance project on Highway 67 through the village.
According to Project Manager Gary Metzer, the DOT will be beginning work on Highway 67 from Elkhorn Road to Theatre Road sometime shortly after July 4. Metzer said they expect to finish prior to Labor Day weekend, just in time for the triathlon.
Metzer said it is a maintenance project and the DOT will be milling two inches off the top of the road and replacing it.
“So, if you’re gone for a couple weeks and come back, it will look like a new road, it’s not a new road,” he said. “We’re going to make it incrementally better.”
Additionally, Metzer said crews will be doing some base patching, digging out sections where the road has collapsed and rebuilding, as well as some sidewalks and pedestrian ramps.
“Again, because it’s a maintenance project, we have a budget and there’s only so much we can do,” he said. “We’re not going to fix everything, kind of just the worst of the worst.”
Metzer said they expect to get 7 1o 10 years of life from the project.
Along most of the road, with the exception of the westbound stretch from Williams Street to Elkhorn Road, on street parking will be eliminated and replaced with bike lanes. Metzer said this is due to crashes and safety based on discussions with the village.
Throughout the project, which is estimated to cost about $825,000, Highway 67 will be open to traffic; one-lane with flaggers during the day and two-way traffic at night.
Additionally keeping pedestrian safety in mind, the DOT will be installing a RRFB, rectangular rapid flashing beacon, to the intersection of North Walworth Avenue.
Metzer described the RRFB as being a miniature traffic signal that remains dark until a button has pushed, at which time yellow lights will alternate, warning drivers pedestrians might be in the crosswalk.
“If traffic is paying attention, they should yield to the pedestrian,” he said.
Metzer said he believes the duration of the light is based on the width of the roadway, programmed to stay on long enough for the average person to look both ways, make sure any vehicles are slowing down and then safely cross the road. Design Engineer Gary Stark noted it’s a yellow light, not a red light, vehicles could continue through so long as they check to make sure no one is in the cross walk or waiting to cross.
“Thanks for doing this,” Village Trustee Gregory Trush said Tuesday night. “That area you’re going to concentrate on reconstruction, that part east of Congress, there are so many potholes down in the center part of our town…the State’s going to take care of it for us and we’re appreciative.”
