Worried about pedestrians, residents ask for streetlight

Residents of a subdivision on Port Washington’s south side will have to wait to see if a streetlight will be installed near their homes.

The Board of Public Works recently directed Public Works Director Rob Vanden Noven to look at the cost of installing a streetlight at the intersection of Highway LL and South Spring Street.

We Energies has estimated the cost of installing an LED light there at about $2,000, with a monthly cost of about $12.50 for the next 85 months. After that, the monthly fee would decrease.

A resident of the NewPort Vista subdivision asked the city to install the light to increase pedestrian safety in the area.

“Mark (Grams, city administrator) has made the comment many times that it’s very dark at that intersection,” Vanden Noven said.

There is a streetlight on the east side of the crossing, he said, but it doesn’t cast light on the west side of the intersection and the crosswalk is dark.

“It does make sense, I guess,” Ald. John Sigwart, a member of the board, said.

But officials expressed concern about the fact the west side of the intersection is in the Town of Port Washington, and the right of way is owned by Ozaukee County and the state, not the city.

“It doesn’t seem right to put a city streetlight on a street that isn’t in the city,” Ald. Pat Tearney, a member of the board, said. “But part of me says the safety should take precedence.”

He suggested the streetlight be a joint city-county project, but Vanden Noven said the county, which has lights at only three crossings, is reluctant to add to that number for fear of setting a precedent.

The east side of the intersection, which does have a streetlight, is not in the city, Vanden Noven said.

And the west side of the crossing serves the NewPort Vista, Woodridge, Premier Hillside Estates, Mattheus Farm and Misty Ridge subdivisions, which are in the city, he said.

Committee members, who in May tabled consideration of the request, asked Vanden Noven to take a look at the cost figures and potential ways for the city to pay for a streetlight.

They are expected to consider the request again when they meet on Aug. 14.