Muskego Public Works Recommends Graef for Pioneer Drive, Woods Road Engineering Design

Muskego City Engineer Dave Simpson met with the Public Works Committee Monday night to issue his recommendations for the Woods Road recreational trail and Pioneer Drive design engineering plans.

In both cases, Graef engineering was selected from a pool of candidates, providing the highest score based on qualifications, current and planned projects and cost.  The cost for each project will run the city $73,150, however, the committee could only come to vote on one of the recommendations, with the Pioneer Drive project being passed on to the Common Council for further discussion.

At the heart of the issue is some aldermen's concerns over the advisability to move forward on the Pioneer Drive project, which is estimated at $2.5 million in total costs, before a marketing study is complete.

Alderman Dan Soltysiak had previously expressed doubt that Pioneer Drive would be an area that businesses might develop along, as there has not been interest to date.  The expense of a full-blown reconstruction to include water utilities was not justified he had argued, and along with others on the council had felt more basic updates like road resurfacing and street scaping would be enough.

"I'd like to wait on the whole Pioneer Drive thing until after the marketing plan is done to see if this is even a good thing to be doing, as I think that will impact the design," Soltysiak said.

However, a watermain installation near the north end of Pioneer Drive was supported by Utilities Superintendent Scott Kloskowski.

"It doesn't make sense if you're going to tear up that road not to put a watermain in that part of the project," he said.

Simpson had asked the committee for their approval on the recommendation as "this is time sensitive and we'd like to get going on this before the snow flies."

Ultimately, the recommendation was passed on, and will be reviewed for recommendation at the Common Council.