Port grapples with ‘crazy’ data center traffic

Port Washington officials grappling with the gridlock created by the construction of the Vantage Data Centers Lighthouse Campus on the city’s north side hope that traffic lights installed at what has become the city’s busiest intersection will do something to alleviate the traffic congestion.

The temporary traffic lights hanging over highways 32 and H at the I-43 interchange, which along with the adjacent Highway LL are overcome with traffic at peak times, are to be operations by next week, perhaps as early as Monday, Aug. 24.

Officials hope the lights will help but they know they won’t solve the city’s northside traffic woes.

“I’ve been there at shift change and yes, it’s crazy,” City Engineer Roger Strohm said of traffic.

Part of the problem is the sheer volume of traffic, he said, something that the traffic lights can’t eliminate.

That’s especially true as the workforce at the data center has increase to what Vantage said would be about 5,000 workers this summer.

But, he said, the lights should help control traffic on the city’s north side at those peak times and ease the need to have law enforcement officers directing traffic.

“That should eliminate the need for police to direct traffic,” Strohm said.

But the lights alone won’t solve all the issues, so the county is also working to widen some of the intersections near the data center as well as the ramps, creating dedicated turn lanes, he said.

That, combined with the timing of the traffic signals, should help reduce the time people have to wait to get through the intersections, Strohm said.

While the traffic backups are significant at times, Strohm said he hasn’t heard any complaints about the issue.

“That might mean people are so fed up with it they aren’t complaining anymore,” he said.

The road improvements were announced earlier this year as officials looked ahead at ways to accommodate the expected number of vehicles delivering workers, equipment and supplies to the data center campus.

The improvements include widening some lanes at the I-43 ramps and Highway LL, as well as an enhanced pedestrian control signal and lane widening at the intersections of Highland Lane and Highland Drive and at Highland Lane and Highway LL.

On Lake Drive, turn lanes will be add ed and at Highway KW and Highway LL wider turning radiuses will be created at intersections.

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

The company is also paying to make the improvements, as well as for the law enforcement officers handling traffic control.

Strohm said he doesn’t know how much the traffic lights and lane enhancements will cost, noting the work is being billed directly to Vantage.

Traffic concerns have been a perpetual concern in the area around the data center.

The heavy vehicles needed for the data center construction have taxed the roads around the construction site, forcing the city to replace the surface.

There have been difficulties as the large trucks carrying heavy loads have vied with area residents on the roads surrounding the data center, and complaints of rocks from construction trucks striking cars and cracking windshields.

People living around the data center have also expressed concerns about the speed of the construction vehicles and safety.

The ultimate solution to many of these issues is down the road, Strohm said, when “they get further along in construction and there are fewer workers needed.”

The data center campus has been a construction site since Vantage broke ground there in December 2025.

The 672-acre site will contain four data center buildings, as well as a warehouse, operations center and support buildings. It is expected to be completed in 2028.