Waukesha bypass alternatives considered

Route would link I-94 with Highway 59

Sept. 13, 2010

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By Laurel Walker of the Journal Sentinel

Sept. 13, 2010 0

Waukesha - An advisory group of local residents, business owners, community groups and government representatives making recommendations on a west-Waukesha bypass will meet Wednesday to begin narrowing the alternate routes for further study.

The session will run from 4 to 6 p.m. at Waukesha West High School library, 3301 Saylesville Road. Participation in the workshop is limited to the panel members, though the meeting is open to the public, who may ask questions of consultants or provide input after the meeting.

The process, along with several public informational meetings held so far, is part of Waukesha County's effort to complete an environmental impact statement on the project by early next year.

The bypass, which would link I-94 on the north with Highway 59 on the southwest side of Waukesha, has been identified on Waukesha's official city map along Merrill Hills Road since 1971.

Among the alternatives in the mix - besides a "do nothing" option - are primary routes along Grandview Blvd., along Meadowbrook and Merrill Hills Roads, and along a route starting at the Highway SS/I-94 interchange. Up to seven alternate routes exist south of Highway 18, where Retzer Nature Center, Pebble Creek and Merrill Hills Country Club could be affected.

A county study reaffirmed the Merrill Hills Road route in 1989. However, the project stalled until last year when former Waukesha Mayor Larry Nelson, County Executive Dan Vrakas, Waukesha Town Chairman Robert Tallinger Sr. and state Department of Transportation officials revived the project with a memorandum of understanding on how to proceed.

According to the agreement, the project could cost $50.7 million, including up to $40.1 million from the state, $8.6 million from Waukesha County and $2 million from the City of Waukesha. However, it indicates that any party can opt out if the cost of the preferred alternative exceeds $43.1 million.

Alternate routes online See an aerial view of alternate routes for the Waukesha bypass at jsonline.com/Waukesha.

About Laurel Walker

Laurel Walker covered local, school and county government for 20 years -- the last half of that at the Milwaukee Journal and Milwaukee Journal Sentinel -- before she was named Waukesha County columnist in 1997. Today she writes about the people, places and events around metropolitan Milwaukee with a broad suburban focus. She was the youngest of nine children raised on a central Wisconsin farm before leaving the nest for journalism studies at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and a masters degree at the University of Oregon. She has spent the last half of her life in Waukesha County, where she and her husband raised two sons. Though she has a fondness for life in Waukesha, she eagerly partakes in the culture of the big city to the east and the recreation of the forests to the west. With sons in the arts, she has a special fondness for symphonic music concerts and art museums. She finds peace in a good book at a Northwoods getaway weekend, adventure in family visits to the east and west coasts, and satisfaction in a column well-written that reaches readers.