Data center traffic mess called ‘inexcusable’

Large dump trucks and heavy construction equipment that are competing with passenger vehicles for space on the roads near the Vantage Data Centers Lighthouse Campus in Port Washington has created a traffic mess that is “genuinely inexcusable,” a town resident told the Common Council on Tuesday.

“Civilian vehicles don’t stand a chance against heavy construction equipment,” Ben Donajkowski, who lives on Highway LL in the Town of Port, told aldermen. “What exactly is the plan to handle 5,000 workers? Right now, there are only supposedly 500 workers on site, and even that is overwhelming the area.

“The complete lack of a real traffic solution is putting families at serious risk.”

Vantage has contracted with the Ozaukee County Sheriff’s Office and Wisconsin State Patrol to provide traffic control around the data center at peak times throughout the summer at the company’s cost, Sheriff Christy Knowles said.

The two agencies have been providing three officers to direct traffic from 5:30 to 7:30 a.m. and 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, and that number will likely increase to four employees in the near future, she said, adding Vantage has supplemented their ranks with some flagmen.

The officers are stationed at the intersection of highways D and LL in Belgium, where vehicles coming from the north to the data center exit the freeway; at the I-43 ramps on Port Washington’s north side, where vehicles coming from the south get off the interstate; and at the intersection of Lake Drive and Highway KW in the Town of Port, Knowles said.

“I’ve been purposely taking Highway LL just to see what’s happening, and it’s been very congested,” Knowles said. “I have not seen anybody driving fast or erratic. The truck drivers, they’re taking it seriously.”

She recalled one woman calling to express concern that it took her 40 minutes to get from Port to Belgium.

“That’s a long time,” Knowles said, adding she’s had to wait six minutes to travel six-tenths of a mile.

She noted that it’s especially difficult for trucks turning north from Lake Drive to Highway LL because they have to inch out to see oncoming traffic.

“People have to be aware of their surroundings,” Knowles said. “There are little cars between big trucks.”

At Monday’s Port Washington Town Board meeting, residents expressed concern with the traffic as well.

“It really is dangerous,” Dave Janus, who lives on Weiler’s Way in the town, said. “I can’t believe they (deputies directing traffic) haven’t been run over yet.

“It’s hard to pull out onto Highway LL every day. Can the town do anything to help control the traffic? Can they pace the trucks, spread them out?”

His wife Heidi told the Town Board she’s seen three near misses in the last couple weeks, adding, “We’ve seen a lot of really bad behavior on the road.”

Donajkowski told the Common Council on Tuesday that the city should have had a plan to deal with the traffic before construction began.

“Why wasn’t it done before construction started?” he asked. “Everything so far has been reactive instead of proactive, and the community is paying the price for that.”

Knowles said Vantage called her a couple months ago to ask for as many as six officers to provide traffic control in the area, noting that the county will have to handle any accidents on the county roads around the data center.

Her initial thought was that the department didn’t have the resources to provide the officers, but realizing they will get calls regardless got her thinking, she said.

“Instead of taxpayer money going to all the overtime we were going to have (to provide traffic control), Vantage will pay our overtime and the benefits,” Knowles said. “It’s not costing the taxpayers anything.”

While many people have expressed concern with the amount of truck traffic on the roads around the data center, Knowles said her biggest concern is the number of passenger vehicles driven by Vantage employees as it ramps up its workforce, which she said is expected to peak in June.

Bicycle traffic on the road will also increase at about that time, causing yet another concern, she said.

“That traffic is going to be intertwined with the trucks we’ve already been seeing. We do not know what it’s going to be like,” Knowles said, adding her department will adjust the numbers of officers and locations where they direct traffic as needed.

“Everything is fluid, so if we are needed at a different location or time for traffic control, the deputies will adjust. We are working closely with Vantage to make sure the roads around the data center are safe for everyone traveling on them.”

Officers are expected to provide traffic control until at least October, Knowles said, adding that people who can use alternate routes are urged to do so.

One reason for some of the congestion may be the fact that Lake Drive between highways KW and LL has been closed for repaving, causing truck traffic to mix with passenger vehicles.

The road will reopen on Saturday, May 9, Port Public Works Director Rob Vanden Noven said Tuesday, but then Highway LL will close between roughly Highland Lane and Lake Drive for repaving.

Highway LL is expected to open about May 25, he said, and after that Lake Drive will be closed to the public for the summer to accommodate the construction traffic.

In the next two months, the city is also expected to add traffic lights at the I-43 ramps on the city’s north side and widen intersections throughout the area to help with traffic.

While those measures may help ease traffic congestion somewhat, Knowles said, the influx of workers heading to the data center site will continue to present challenges.

“Our goal is the safest road possible,” Knowles said. “People have to understand. They have to be patient. The construction is happening. People are coming from outside the area to work here.”

So far, Knowles said, so good.

“We haven’t had any minor accidents so far,” she said.