Highway 14 Construction Project Concerns Business Owners
Construction Scheduled To Begin In June
Updated: 8:23 am CDT April 15, 2009
MAZOMANIE, Wis. -- Wisconsin Department of Transportation officials met with some area business owners Tuesday in an effort to ease concerns about a big construction project.
VIDEO: Watch The ReportA busy stretch of U.S. Highway 14 is getting torn up and resurfaced, affecting Mazomanie, Black Earth and Cross Plains businesses. Revised plans for the $5.7 million project call for closing more than seven miles of the highway on June 15 to everyone except local and business traffic.State officials said that when the bulk of the construction happens this June, signs will be posted to ensure that people from out of the area know these communities are open for business.At Tuesday's meeting, business owners said they didn't get enough notice, and the DOT apologized for not giving owners enough time to prepare for the project.The DOT said it's now working to make sure businesses are not affected during the estimated eight to ten weeks of construction.Steve Schmitt, owner of the Shoe Box in Black Earth, said that his Highway 14 location is important to his business."With 12,600 cars going by here every 24 hours, it means quite a bit," said Schmitt, who also owns Rookies on Highway 14."We want people that aren't going to stop at any of the businesses and drive through to use a detour drive," said Jeff Gust, DOT project development supervisor.State DOT officials are hearing from concerned business owners from Mazomanie, Black Earth and Cross Plains."Half of my business comes from the west through on their way to work in Madison, and when I heard this, I thought, 'With the economy we're struggling,'" said Kathy Barman, owner of Sisters on Main, a drycleaners in Cross Plains.Barman said she's counting on good summer business to help her get through some tough times."Between last year and this year, I would say I lost a third of my business. I laid off three employees," she said.Among the proposed changes brought forward Tuesday afternoon are including County Road KP, which parallels Highway 14, as a detour route in addition to the detours set up for Wisconsin 78, 19 and 12. While the DOT said it will consider this, there are concerns."We know that a lot of locals will probably take that route, but the question is, 'So we want to send state traffic on that?' And we're looking into whether it'd be safe to do such a thing," said Gust.The DOT said CR-KP might need to be resurfaced for about $600,000 before becoming a detour.Another alternative proposed is making it a "night project," but the DOT said it's not a good candidate for this.The DOT will consider leaving the highway open to all traffic, even during the construction period, but warned that would add up to eight weeks to the project, cost about 25 percent more and cause lengthy delays during the day.The DOT also announcing it will pay the contractor more money shell in order to speed up the construction by as much as two weeks.
VIDEO: Watch The ReportA busy stretch of U.S. Highway 14 is getting torn up and resurfaced, affecting Mazomanie, Black Earth and Cross Plains businesses. Revised plans for the $5.7 million project call for closing more than seven miles of the highway on June 15 to everyone except local and business traffic.State officials said that when the bulk of the construction happens this June, signs will be posted to ensure that people from out of the area know these communities are open for business.At Tuesday's meeting, business owners said they didn't get enough notice, and the DOT apologized for not giving owners enough time to prepare for the project.The DOT said it's now working to make sure businesses are not affected during the estimated eight to ten weeks of construction.Steve Schmitt, owner of the Shoe Box in Black Earth, said that his Highway 14 location is important to his business."With 12,600 cars going by here every 24 hours, it means quite a bit," said Schmitt, who also owns Rookies on Highway 14."We want people that aren't going to stop at any of the businesses and drive through to use a detour drive," said Jeff Gust, DOT project development supervisor.State DOT officials are hearing from concerned business owners from Mazomanie, Black Earth and Cross Plains."Half of my business comes from the west through on their way to work in Madison, and when I heard this, I thought, 'With the economy we're struggling,'" said Kathy Barman, owner of Sisters on Main, a drycleaners in Cross Plains.Barman said she's counting on good summer business to help her get through some tough times."Between last year and this year, I would say I lost a third of my business. I laid off three employees," she said.Among the proposed changes brought forward Tuesday afternoon are including County Road KP, which parallels Highway 14, as a detour route in addition to the detours set up for Wisconsin 78, 19 and 12. While the DOT said it will consider this, there are concerns."We know that a lot of locals will probably take that route, but the question is, 'So we want to send state traffic on that?' And we're looking into whether it'd be safe to do such a thing," said Gust.The DOT said CR-KP might need to be resurfaced for about $600,000 before becoming a detour.Another alternative proposed is making it a "night project," but the DOT said it's not a good candidate for this.The DOT will consider leaving the highway open to all traffic, even during the construction period, but warned that would add up to eight weeks to the project, cost about 25 percent more and cause lengthy delays during the day.The DOT also announcing it will pay the contractor more money shell in order to speed up the construction by as much as two weeks.Copyright 2009 by Channel 3000. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
