It seems that the Wilson makeover is something of a controversy --- wider, narrower, two lanes, four lanes, stop signs, parking, etc... and from reading responses from the Village Officials, it seems that all is open for discussion, except that which they have already decided to do. Though it would be refreshing if there is some real consideration given to the opinions of the residents.
Steve Koczela's blog regarding Stop Signs is very informative, and hopefully will be considered as to its Green impact.
Another consideration that may or may not apply, is what is underneath Wilson. Since we are planning on tearing up the entire street anyway --- what kind of sewers are there --- storm and sanitary, or just sanitary ? Are the any opportunities here for tweaking our defective sewer system ?
Unfortunately as we read several times a year about Shorewood dumping raw sewage into the river* --- is there an opportunity here for working with MMSD ---- perhaps a "mini deep tunnel" to help with Shorewood's sewage overflows ? Maybe MMSD would help with the reconstruction costs ?
Hopefully our Village officials will look at all these aspects --- and once the Conservation Committee is up and running, they can also provide some guidance as to the Green alternatives in rebuilding Wilson.
* April 7, 2007 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel "A spring storm Tuesday morning that poured more than 2 inches of rain in several hours on communities throughout metro Milwaukee led to the dumping of an unknown volume of sewage and storm water from combined sewers in Milwaukee and Shorewood to local rivers and Lake Michigan. The overflows had not abated by evening"
