By Kellen Olshefski
Correspondent
The City of Elkhorn Common Council voted in favor of a traffic study being conducted at a troublesome intersection on Highway 12.
At its meeting Jan. 20, the council approved moving forward with Traffic Analysis and Design, Inc., at the signalized intersection of Highway 12/67 and Potter and Schmidt roads during peak summer traffic hours.
According to Department of Public Works Operations Manager Matt Lindstrom, the City had noticed traffic issues in past years at the intersection and worked with TADI to evaluate the intersection. At that time, Lindstrom said TADI recommended some timing adjustments for the signals to try and resolve some of the issues that the City was seeing.
However, after making some adjustments, Lindstrom said the changes don’t seem to have made a noticeable difference, particularly during big spikes during the summer months.
As a result, Lindstrom said the department budgeted money for 2020 to engage an engineering firm to take a closer look and conduct a study during those peak summer months.
Lindstrom said the City has used TADI in the past, and as the firm does have experience with that specific signalized intersection, the department recommended proceeding with TADI.
Alderman Scott McClory had noted at a previous meeting that the Wisconsin DOT is also looking at putting in a signal at the intersection of highways 12/67 and ES, therefore, Lindstrom said he would make the DOT aware of the study.
The Council voted 6-0 in favor of approving moving forward with the study.
In other business
In other business Monday, the Council approved the updated joint facility use agreement between the City and the Elkhorn Area School District.
The agreement had previously been approved by the EASD Board of Education and Alderman Frank Boggs said the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board approved the agreement at its recent meeting. Furthermore, City Attorney Ward Phillips said he didn’t have any concerns about the agreement.
Councilmembers voted unanimously in favor of the joint facility use agreement.
The Council additionally voted 6-0 in favor of approving the Elkhorn Armory as a temporary polling place for the April 7 and Nov. 3 elections.
