Vantage plans long list of road projects for campus

Lake Drive, which has taken a beating since construction began on the Vantage Data Centers Lighthouse Campus, was closed Monday night as crews began work to rebuild the road so it will last for the remainder of the years-long project.

“This is, of course, a road that is greatly in need of repair,” Port Washington Public Works Director Rob Vanden Noven said Monday. 

Vantage is paying to rebuild the road, a project that will be undertaken by Michels  Corp., he said. 

But this isn’t the only road work to be done in conjunction with the data center construction. 

On Wednesday, the Port Common Council was expected to hear a report from Graef, an engineering and planning company, about temporary road improvements needed to accommodate the data center construction.

That work includes everything from traffic lights on Highway 32 at the I-43 ramps on the city’s north side to widened intersections to accommodate the delivery of materials to the work site.

“This is just to move traffic in and out,” City Engineer Roger Strohm said, noting that the workforce during construction is expected to hit 5,000 people. “There’s a lot of extra traffic that’s going to move through there.”

The first project, however, will be repairing Lake Drive, a country road that wasn’t built to withstand the constant pounding of heavy trucks and construction equipment needed to build the data center.

The road began deteriorating almost immediately after construction of the data center began.

The reconstruction work will be done in phases, Vanden Noven said, with the road east of Highland Drive to Highway LL replaced first. Then the project will shift to the area between Highland and Highway KW.

A typical city road in an industrial area would have a 12 inch base topped with 5-1/2 inches of asphalt, but Strohm said Lake Drive will be rebuilt with two feet of stone base under 5-1/2 inches of asphalt. A geotextile fabric will also be placed under the base to increase the strength of the road.

“We expect it’s going to stand up for many years,” Vanden Noven said. 

  The roadwork is expected to take two weeks, weather permitting, he said. Strohm noted much of the work will be done at night to minimize construction traffic on Highway LL.

Once Lake Drive is rebuilt, Highway LL, which was closed for a significant amount of time as utility lines were laid for the data center, will be closed again in that same area for about two weeks as Ozaukee County Highway Department crews repave the highway, Strohm said.

On Wednesday the Common Council was to learn about temporary road improvements to be made at Vantage’s expense for the data center to improve the flow of traffic and accommodate larger vehicles.

Strohm said Graef was expected to provide a timeline for the work at the meeting.

The improvements include traffic signals  on Highway 32 at the I-43 ramps  as well as some lane widening at the ramps and Highway LL.

There will also be an enhanced pedestrian control signal and lane widening at the intersection of Highland Lane and Highland Drive and at Highland Lane and Highway LL.

On Lake Drive, there will be added turn lanes and wider turning radius at Highway KW and Highway LL.

Strohm said he expects the work will be done by Ozaukee County.

The improvements, he said, will be temporary and Vantage will be responsible for removing the features once the data center is completed.

“These are all for construction,” he said, adding that if the improvements aren’t removed the roads “will be so wide traffic is not going to want to go through at 25 mph.”

Even as the city is considering road improvements, it is also looking at sewer and water extensions into the Knellsville area of the Town of Port.

Vanden Noven said the city is working with the Department of Natural Resources and the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin to obtain needed permits. Once they are acquired, he said, a timeline for the work will be created.

Town Chairman Mike Didier told his board Monday that he expects work on the utility extension could start in 30 to 60 days.

The utilities will come off Highland Lane and Drive, go through the Town Hall lot and head west, then converge with a line that will be brought from the city’s north side water tower under the freeway to Mink Ranch Road, he said.

The lines will then head up Highways KW and H, creating a loop near Harbor City Plumbing.

There aren’t any plans to require town residents to hook up to the utilities, Vanden Noven said, although Strohm said Ozaukee County may require someone with a failing septic system to connect to the sewer lines.

In related news, the DNR is holding an online public hearing on the air pollution control permit for the data center campus at noon Tuesday, April 14. 

The DNR has made a preliminary determination that the application meets requirement and the permit may be approved, according to the department.

Written comments will also be accepted until April 14.

For more information about the hearing and permit, contact Quinton LeSage at quinton.lesage@wisconsin.gov or visit dnr.wi,gov/warp_ext/public_notice.aspx.