Board rejects DOT’s idea of a two-lane Hwy. 33 in city

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation, which insisted that Highway 33 be expanded to four lanes when it was rebuilt in 2012, recently proposed converting the highway into a two-lane road from Jackson Road to Highway LL when it is resurfaced in 2027, Port Washington officials were told Tuesday.

The change would be made not by removing a lane of pavement but by converting one traffic lane in each direction into a dedicated bike lane, according to the DOT proposal.

But Tuesday, the Port Board of Public Works rejected that proposal by a 5-1 vote, saying the road functions well as it is configured and noting that there is already a multiuse path that bicyclists can use on one side of the highway.

“This is an example of too little too late,” Board Chairman Jason Wittek said. “The pavement’s there now.”

Ald. Jonathan Pleitner, who lives in the Hidden Hills subdivision along that stretch of Highway 33, told the board he polled residents of the area and all of those who responded opposed the change.

“I think it’s important we maintain the four-lane layout of Highway 33,” Pleitner said, especially considering all the growth projected in the area.

That includes development of the former Schanen farm and Hidden Hills North subdivision, and growth on Saukville’s east side, particularly the Northern Gateway Community Collective Development, he said.

Public Works Director Rob Vanden Noven noted that a wider single driving lane could result in faster traffic in the area and would make it more difficult for traffic turning onto Highway 33 to do so.

Ald. Pat Tearney, a member of the board, made the motion to keep the current layout of the highway.

“I drive that every day. It works very well,” he said.

And combined with the roundabout at Highway 33, he said, “It has a calming effect on traffic coming into town.”

Vanden Noven noted DOT officials recently broached the city and town of Port and the Village of Saukville with the idea of converting the highway to two lanes from Northwoods Road east to Highway LL.

“Traffic on Highway 33 has not met projections forecasted by the DOT in 2011, therefore only two lanes are warranted,” Vanden Noven said in a memo to the board.

When Highway 33 was designed, the DOT predicted that traffic on the road would increase to 30,000 vehicles a day by 2030, even though only 10,000 vehicles used it each day in 2010, he told the board.

At one point in the design process, Vanden Noven added, the DOT suggested widening  Highway 33 to six lanes.

“There’s actually less traffic now than there was in 2010,” he said. “We’ll never get anywhere near that amount.”

And that, he said, caused the DOT to propose the reconfiguration of the highway.

“This is as close to a mea culpa as you’ll get,” Wittek said. “Hopefully, this is a sign of a sea change at the DOT.”

Ald. Mike Gasper, a member of the board, expressed frustration with the situation.

“It never should have been four lanes to begin with. It only should ever have been a single lane (in each direction),” Gasper, who cast the lone dissenting vote, said. “The state does it all over the place, wasting money on projects like this. Now it’s a long-term maintenance expense for the DOT.”