Street plan will likely rekindle debate over Port sidewalks

Proposal that includes walkways in north bluff area to be presented Dec. 12

    The familiar debate over when to install sidewalks along existing streets in Port Washington is likely to reignite next week when the Board of Public Works holds an informational meeting on upcoming road reconstruction projects.
    Several of the streets being rebuilt next year are in the north bluff area — including Hales Trail, Brentwood Court and Crestview Drive — near Upper Lake Park, a popular pedestrian destination.
    “The plans that will be exhibited will include sidewalks everywhere,” Public Works Director Rob Vanden Noven said. “The policy and the code for subdivisions requires sidewalks everywhere. It’s my job to propose sidewalks there.”
    Sidewalks would be installed only where streets are being rebuilt, he noted, not where they are simply being resurfaced.
    “If we’re just resurfacing, we’re not doing any work behind the curb,” Vanden Noven said, who noted that when streets are rebuilt they are typically narrowed, providing more room for sidewalks.
    The proposed design also would narrow many of the streets, including Hales Trail, Whitefish Road, Crestview Drive and Lakeview Avenue, Vanden Noven said.
    “We build the streets according to the traffic demand, and these are all low volume streets,” he said.
    The meeting, which will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 12, will not include a formal presentation on the street projects. Instead, it will follow an open house format with residents able to view the plans and talk to officials about the proposed designs throughout the meeting.
    “The purpose of the meeting is to obtain information from residents we’re not aware of that could affect the project,” Vanden Noven said. That could include such things as drainage issues, he said.
    “We’re very early in the design process,” he added. “We’re going to design the roads to fit the needs.”
    Officials from the city and Gremmer & Associates, its design consultant, will be on hand to discuss the plans with residents.
    The street projects include:
    n Crestview Drive from Noridge Trail to Briarwood Lane.
    n Brentwood Court from Crestview Drive to the cul de sac.
    n Noridge Trail from Sunrise Drive to the south end.
    n Whitefish Road from Lakeview Avenue south to Lakeview Avenue north.
    n Hales Trail from Whitefish Road to Kaiser Drive.
    n Lakeview Avenue from Douglas Street to Whitefish Road.
    The projects include sanitary sewer lining, storm sewer improvements, water main replacement and reconstruction work.
    Vanden Noven noted that the city does not anticipate needing any right of way for the projects, and the only special assessments that are likely to be charged are for sidewalks installed where there currently are none.