Waukesha intersection reopens after being blocked by transformer

The intersection of S. East Ave. and Highway 164 in Waukesha reopened to traffic shortly after 2 p.m. after being closed for about six hours Tuesday when a trailer hitch malfunction separated a trailer and the massive transformer it was carrying from the tractor, blocking the busy intersection.
The intersection of S. East Ave. and Highway 164 in Waukesha reopened to traffic shortly after 2 p.m. after being closed for about six hours Tuesday when a trailer hitch malfunction separated a trailer and the massive transformer it was carrying from the tractor, blocking the busy intersection. Credit: Gary Porter
April 17, 2012
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By Laurel Walker of the Journal Sentinel

April 17, 2012 0

Waukesha - Waukesha police reported shortly after 2 p.m. that the intersection of East Ave. and Highway 164 was open to traffic about six hours after a trailer hitch malfunction separated a trailer and the massive transformer it was carrying from the tractor, blocking the busy intersection.

Several attempts to move the trailer failed primarily because of the weight, and crews feared it might take a couple of days to ship in a specialized trailer from another state.

However, workers were able to finally connect the trailer and move it far enough down the road so it was no longer blocking the intersection.

Oremus, who initially reported the transformer's weight at 225,000, updated the information, saying it weighed 140,000 pounds - or 70 tons. The combined weight of the transformer, trailer and tractor was 243,000 pounds, he said.

The transformer was bound from the former Waukesha Electric - now SPX Transformer Solutions - to Oklahoma. Traffic was temporarily rerouted during the intersection closure.

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.
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