Hwy. LL to be closed for data center utility work

Highway LL on Port Washington’s north side may be closed for as long as two months while the city extends sewer and water to the Vantage Data Centers complex north of I-43 this fall and winter, Ozaukee County officials were told last week.

The project could begin as soon as Oct. 13 and will extend utilities north along Highway LL and under I-43 via Highland Lane and Highland Road.

County Highway Commissioner Jon Edgren said this week that he expects at least one, if not both lanes, of Highway LL in that area to be closed for one-and-a-half to two months.

Port City Engineer Roger Strohm said traffic will be detoured to Highway KW north to Highway A, noting the state requires the detour to run on state and county highways.

“We anticipate locals will use the town roads to get around,” Strohm said.

The work will not require closing the Ozaukee Interurban Trail, Strohm said, adding a temporary path will be set up along Highland Lane during parts of the construction project. 

But County Planning and Parks Director Andrew Struck said he assumed the trail would be closed on Highland Lane and through the Knellsville area.

In addition, the county hot mix plant in the Town of Saukville will remain open into December to provide asphalt to repave LL and other affected streets.

Work to extend water and sewer to the data center campus will begin in October by Vinton Construction Co. of Two Rivers.

A $4.55 million contract to extend water and sewer services to the data center was awarded to Vinton Construction Co. last week by the Port Washington Common Council, a move that ensures the city will meets its commitment to have utilities to the property by Jan. 1.

Most asphalt plants close by November, Edgren told members of the county Public Works Committee on Sept. 17, so he asked the committee to agree to keep the hot mix plant open to accommodate the city.

Committee members agreed to do so in a memorandum of understanding with the city, provided the city agrees to pay for any expenses incurred by the county to keep the plant open.

Edgren estimated the cost to keep the plant open for an extra month will be hundreds of dollars. The city also will pay the county for grading and paving the road, according to the MOU.

Installing the sewer lines will require digging trenches as deep as 30 feet from the intersection of the Interurban Trail and Highway LL north to Highland Lane, west along Highland Lane and on Highland Drive.

The pipes will be placed in a “sleeve” under the freeway, Strohm said, so if repairs are needed in the future they will be easier to make.

The city had proposed backfilling the utility trenches with gravel or millings but county staff members said that could be unsafe by creating a loose surface that could possibly damage vehicles over the winter.

In response, the county suggested keeping the hot mix plant open.

Although the city is signing the MOU and the contract with Vinton, it won’t be paying for the work, Mayor Ted Neitzke said last week.

Vantage will pay the city for the work as specified in the city’s development agreement with Vantage, with the cost ultimately repaid through a tax incremental financing district.  

The engineering estimate for the utility extension was $6 million, which officials said included not just the construction cost but also a 30% contingency fund, engineering fees, construction management and other expenses. 

Vantage Data Centers, which has purchased roughly 1,900 acres on the city’s north side, is building the Port campus on the southern 672 acres, an area north of Highland Drive and south of Lake Drive between I-43 and the Ozaukee Interurban Trail. 

With the annexation of that area by the city, Struck said reconstruction or repairs to the bike trail would be the city’s responsibility.

Vantage is investing at least $8 billion in the project, which is projected to use 1.3 gigawatts of power and use an average of 35,000 gallons of water a day, although the city has committed to providing as much as 1.2 million gallons of water a day for the campus.