The Brookfield Scene
Janet, a Town of Brookfield resident, has lived in the Elmbrook area for nearly 40 years and is an avid gardener and volunteer. Her blog focuses on the city and town of Brookfield – past, present and future.
More Readers' Voices
By Janet Wintersberger
Monday, Jan 22 2007, 04:20 PM
Today's blog shares feedback received about three topics.
1. An interchange at I94 and Calhoun Road (to divert traffic from Bluemound Road)
2. The probable loss of Ruby Farms
3. A response to another reader's contention that widening Calhoun will result in 'massive safety improvements' and improved marketability of homes on Calhoun Road.
Interchange
“I can’t believe you think an interchange on Calhoun Road will make Bluemound safer. The interchange will channel more traffic to Bluemound Road. It will bring increased, faster traffic within FEET of homes in an established neighborhood, a historic site and an elementary school.
Calhoun Road will be a thoroughfare for commuters going back and forth between New Berlin and Menomonee Falls. It will bring even more home burglaries to our neighborhoods. This will all be for the benefit of a greedy developer.”
Ruby Farms
“I've talked to several aldermen about saving Ruby Farms, but got not much of a response. [I feel] they don't want to put in the work that it would take. Ruby Farms is such a neat place and could become a tourist destination like the old Stonewood Village was in the 70's before it was sold. Brookfield will have nothing to distinguish itself by if we keep on tearing down and replacing."
Safety and Marketability
"Ask the person who said a wider Calhoun is a “massive safety improvement” to try to get across the new wider Calhoun at the entrance to Tri City Bank at 5 o’clock on any Friday. It took me 8 traffic light changes to go make a turn onto Calhoun and go across Bluemound.
This project will add medians and similar intersections to Calhoun. The one at Swanson Elementary should be interesting to all when the school buses and parents are dropping or picking up their children. Consider this will only be a few hundred feet from the entrance to V-Richards Plaza and Bluemound Road.
The homes along the south end of Calhoun will all be noncompliant. They will have limited space to park their cars and no space to park for anyone trying to visit them. They will probably be in danger entering Calhoun due to the speed limit increase to 35. The medians will require a U turn either coming or going for almost all of the residents along Calhoun.
Improved marketability? This person doesn’t know much about real estate. Improved safety? I’ll let you be the judge.”
