Divided board picks bike lane option for Hwy. 60

The stretch of Highway 60 in Grafton from First Avenue to 10th Avenue will likely gain bike lanes and lose parking on its south side as part of a reconstruction project set to happen in the next three to five years.

The Grafton Village Board last week picked the plan over another proposed by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation that didn’t include bike lanes but stripped parking on both sides of the road to accommodate a center turn lane.

The plan that included bike lanes passed by a 4-3 vote — with trustees Lisa Uribe Harbeck, Sarah Scarpace and Kevin Curtis dissenting — but few trustees were happy with either option.

Trustee Andrew Schwartz proposed adding a middle turn lane only at high-traffic intersections and retaining parking in other areas, a plan supported by Uribe Harbeck.

“I think there is an option that is safer and still offers parking,” she said.

Scarpace advocated for creating a bike lane on Beech Street instead of Highway 60, which has a heavier traffic volume.

“There’s a lot of bandwidth on the street,” she said.

Trustee Dave Armstrong opposed encouraging more bicyclists to ride through town.

“(Bicyclists) are not following the rules of the road for one thing, that’s the problem I have,” he said. “There’s going to be a lot more bikes here when we have a road to the north and the south (referencing the Ozaukee Interurban Trail) where they can get from one side of the town to the other.”

Trustee Amy Luft argued bike lanes will be helpful for drivers.

“I think the addition of the bike lanes will improve traffic flow because bikers have a place on the road. Bikers don’t have to dodge cars or vice versa,” she said.

Community Development Director Jessica Wolff told Ozaukee Press Tuesday that she has been disappointed with the way the DOT has handled the community input process.

The DOT made it sound like the village had a choice whether bike lanes or shoulders were included in the reconstruction, but since federal funding is being used for the project, they are required, she said.

The village did not learn how restricted it was until after a public hearing on the project last month.

“It’s not like the DOT sat us down three years ago and said, ‘You have two travel lanes and you need bike lanes, but do you want parking?’ Eventually, they did, but it was spread out over several years,” she said.

The alternative design proposal met the bike lane requirements because, although it didn’t include lanes, it left a sufficient shoulder on each side to accommodate bikes.

Due to the requirements, simply repaving the road and maintaining the current layout is impossible, according to staff comments.

The project will involve the replacement of pavement with concrete,  curb and gutter replacement, sidewalk curb ramp reconstruction to meet Americans with Disabilities Act standards, traffic signal replacement and added left turn lanes at the First Avenue intersection, as well as reconstruction of the railroad crossing, including adding gate arms, staff comments state.

The project will cost the municipality about $300,000, according to a 2023 DOT estimate.