MONROE - Spring might seem far away, but the City of Monroe is racing the clock to get detour routes established for 8th Street and 9th Street reconstruction work starting in March.
The Board of Public Works Monday approved hiring Fehr-Graham and Associates to prepare plans and specifications for signs needed to re-route traffic from 8th and 9th streets between 20th Avenue and Wisconsin 69 onto 10th, 11th and possibly 12th streets.
About 14,000 vehicles per day use the east-west route along the 8th and 9th streets corridor, according to a traffic count in 2004.
Fehr-Graham needs the detour route set as soon as possible in order to establish how many and what kind of signs will be needed for the route.
The city will ask for bids on the production of the signs.
Detour signs will not be enough, according to Kelly Finkenbinder, director of public works, and Fred Kelley, police chief.
Finkenbinder said the number and type of signs needed for the project was beyond the scope of the city to handle. He recommended hiring Fehr-Graham to draw up the details for the signage needed so that the city will be in accordance to state traffic laws.
"It would release liability on the city," he said.
As many as 18 intersections may be involved in the detour routes.
A first proposal for the detour routes was presented by Chief Kelley at the Public Safety Committee Monday.
The proposal has traffic routed onto 10th and 11th Streets, from Wis. 69 and 13th Avenue, while construction work is on the west end of the corridor.
When construction moves to the eastern half of the corridor, 20th Avenue and 12th Street would be designated detour routes.
However, the committee asked Kelley, Finkenbinder and Fehr-Graham to look into making 10th Street and 11th Street temporary one-way streets and getting a traffic light temporarily installed at Wisconsin 69 and 11th Street.
Mayor Bill Ross advocated for the stop light at 11th Street.
"Eleventh Street at (Wisconsin highway) 69 is the scariest part (of the detour) for me," he said.
Kelley said the traffic light would require state approval. Currently, no traffic light exist at the intersection.
If 10th Street were to become a westbound-only detour route, the left-turn lane off Wis. 69 would be closed.
Philip Rath, Monroe's city administrator who started work Monday, said he would prefer not having detoured traffic, especially trucks, routed through the downtown square.
"Trucks would tear it up, and it would cost money to replace sooner or later," he said.
Local drivers would still find ways to manuever around the detours to use the quickest routes through the city, he added.
Committee members also expected problems with too many vehicles backed up if the detour routes went through the Square.
Thurston Hanson, alderman for the downtown Ward 7, said he didn't believe downtown business owners would want the mostly flow-though traffic routed to the Square.
Discussion of the detour routes will be back on the Public Safety Committee agenda Dec. 20.
The Board of Public Works Monday approved hiring Fehr-Graham and Associates to prepare plans and specifications for signs needed to re-route traffic from 8th and 9th streets between 20th Avenue and Wisconsin 69 onto 10th, 11th and possibly 12th streets.
About 14,000 vehicles per day use the east-west route along the 8th and 9th streets corridor, according to a traffic count in 2004.
Fehr-Graham needs the detour route set as soon as possible in order to establish how many and what kind of signs will be needed for the route.
The city will ask for bids on the production of the signs.
Detour signs will not be enough, according to Kelly Finkenbinder, director of public works, and Fred Kelley, police chief.
Finkenbinder said the number and type of signs needed for the project was beyond the scope of the city to handle. He recommended hiring Fehr-Graham to draw up the details for the signage needed so that the city will be in accordance to state traffic laws.
"It would release liability on the city," he said.
As many as 18 intersections may be involved in the detour routes.
A first proposal for the detour routes was presented by Chief Kelley at the Public Safety Committee Monday.
The proposal has traffic routed onto 10th and 11th Streets, from Wis. 69 and 13th Avenue, while construction work is on the west end of the corridor.
When construction moves to the eastern half of the corridor, 20th Avenue and 12th Street would be designated detour routes.
However, the committee asked Kelley, Finkenbinder and Fehr-Graham to look into making 10th Street and 11th Street temporary one-way streets and getting a traffic light temporarily installed at Wisconsin 69 and 11th Street.
Mayor Bill Ross advocated for the stop light at 11th Street.
"Eleventh Street at (Wisconsin highway) 69 is the scariest part (of the detour) for me," he said.
Kelley said the traffic light would require state approval. Currently, no traffic light exist at the intersection.
If 10th Street were to become a westbound-only detour route, the left-turn lane off Wis. 69 would be closed.
Philip Rath, Monroe's city administrator who started work Monday, said he would prefer not having detoured traffic, especially trucks, routed through the downtown square.
"Trucks would tear it up, and it would cost money to replace sooner or later," he said.
Local drivers would still find ways to manuever around the detours to use the quickest routes through the city, he added.
Committee members also expected problems with too many vehicles backed up if the detour routes went through the Square.
Thurston Hanson, alderman for the downtown Ward 7, said he didn't believe downtown business owners would want the mostly flow-though traffic routed to the Square.
Discussion of the detour routes will be back on the Public Safety Committee agenda Dec. 20.