Brown Deer board approves MOU with WisDOT to enable traffic signal at West Brown Deer Road and Arbonne Drive

The Village of Brown Deer village board on April 7 approved a memorandum of understanding with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation to allow a traffic signal at the intersection of West Brown Deer Road and Arbonne Drive.

The MOU records that the state DOT will install the signal, and it contains language under which the village agrees to close the median at the intersection if future development in the Arbonne cul‑de‑sac or sustained traffic conditions — including queues exceeding about 100 feet or crashes that block lanes — make keeping the median unsafe or impractical. Village staff told the board they had lengthened the westbound left‑turn lane at the DOT's request to reduce conflicts while the median remains open.

Village staff said the MOU follows a traffic analysis done for the proposed Fireside Market development at the corner, which led DOT to determine a traffic signal is warranted. Staff also said they met with nearby businesses that use the median for left turns — identified in the meeting as Badger Meter and Otto’s — because those businesses opposed closing the median. The MOU is intended to record a shared understanding so the signal installation may proceed while preserving an agreed process for closing the median if conditions change.

Trustee Thompson moved approval of the MOU; Trustee Owens seconded. The motion carried by voice vote, recorded as approved by the board.

Staff said the engineering estimates for the light and a separate cost‑sharing agreement will return to the board once available; staff estimated the signal and related work would be completed later in the year and likely before or concurrent with construction of Fireside Market.