By Anne Trautner
The Wisconsin Department of Transportation (DOT) is still working on plans for restructuring Highway 14 in the village of Walworth.
“We still have two different potential paths that we were looking at. We are moving toward a recommendation, which would move the roadway closer to the school, but it’s farther away from the school than some of the previous ones that have been shown,” said Mike Pyritz, regional communications manager for Wisconsin DOT.
Walworth Joint School District 1 leaders and parents have voiced opposition to bringing the highway past Walworth’s elementary and middle school.
“We are certainly reaching out to make sure we are addressing any of the concerns or responses,” Pyritz said. “We continue to move forward, but it’s a slow process.”
Wisconsin DOT officials have been working with the village board for the past five years to develop a reconstruction plan for Highway 14. Over the years, the village board has considered about 10 different proposals.
The Wisconsin DOT is planning on having a public information meeting on the project late this year or early next year, Pyritz said.
The public information meeting will be an open house format, in which people can come and get information, as well as make suggestions and comments.
In addition, Wisconsin DOT will host a public hearing next year, Pyritz said.
At the hearing, people will be able to state their opinions on the project or a portion of the project, with a court reporter recording the minutes. At state DOT public hearings, people can testify in front of a panel or can testify individually, one-on-one, with the court reporter, Pyritz said.
“It’s going to help all the people to come together and get some pretty solid plans laid down. Of course, you’ll always continue reflecting up to the point that it’s built, but the vast majority of planning surely would benefit from getting that done over the next year or so,” Pyritz said.
Dates have not yet been set for the public information meeting or the public hearing.
Building a bypass around the village of Walworth is not currently a viable option, Pyritz said.
“If you look at what it would take to bypass Walworth, it’s kind of out of our control to a certain extent. The real estate that would go into it, the approvals that would go into it,” Pyritz said.
Because it is a U.S. highway, it would be up to the federal government to fund a bypass. That means that the project would have to compete against other similar projects in the nation to receive funding. From all indicators, it is not likely that Walworth would receive federal backing, Pyritz said.
“It’s always a possibility, but that would be long-window view,” Pyritz said.
Now, the priority is that the road itself needs to be reconstructed.
“It’s not just throw some blacktop on it and go. The structure of the roadway itself needs to be rebuilt. We’re sort of nearing the end of its life cycle,” Pyritz said.
So, Wisconsin DOT workers have been refining some of the options. Planners are fine-tuning how the intersections would work and where the access points would be, Pyritz said.
The project should be completed within the next seven years, Pyritz said.
“We certainly do have some time, we just want to make sure that we get the plans right. Also, that helps once everybody knows what it’s going to look like, in either redesigning or redeveloping along the stretch. You hate to put a parking lot on the shopping center, and you find out it’s going to be in the middle of a right-turn lane,” Pyritz said.
The village board, school representatives, business groups and residents are all asked to keep trying to work together to come up with improvements and suggestions that can be incorporated into the plans, Pyritz said.
“Unfortunately, it’s not going to be 100 percent universally loved. But we really do think that going through the process, we’re going to come up with a good, solid, long-term plan that will improve safety, improve efficiencies and leave the village with a safe, high-functioning roadway for a good number of years,” Pyritz said.
