Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Transportation Planning topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Plan Commission reviews transportation element for Local Area 16, recommends traffic-calming and connectivity changes
Summary
Mount Pleasant planning staff presented a draft transportation-element update for Local Area 16 that would keep key collector connections while removing infeasible road segments and adding traffic-calming features; commissioners asked staff to refine the plan and return for formal public hearings.
Mount Pleasant Plan Commission members on Sept. 17 reviewed a proposed update to the comprehensive plan's transportation element for Local Area 16, a growth area east of Pike River and west of Taylor Street, and asked staff to refine and return with a formal proposal and public hearings.
Staff said the update responds to multiple development proposals and resident concerns in the Brown Road area and seeks to ensure new streets align, provide connectivity, and avoid unbuildable or environmentally sensitive links. The presentation described recommended deletions (including a proposed bridge over the Pike River and rail corridor and a roadway through a wetland/public-park site), retained elements (a planned Oaks Road connection, Biscayne Avenue as an east'west collector and a Yates Drive connection), and new design guidance consistent with the village's subdivision standards.
The draft proposes a block/grid approach based on local lot and block-size ordinances, and recommends targeted intersection treatments and traffic-calming features beyond traffic-signal or stop-sign warrants. Staff cited designs from NACTO (National Association of City Transportation Officials) and AASHTO and suggested mini-roundabouts, curb extensions and planters for key intersections to reduce speeds and improve pedestrian safety. The plan would still require traffic-impact analyses for individual projects and adhere to engineering warrants such as Wisconsin's Facilities Design Manual for stop signs.
Commissioners raised specific concerns. Trustee Bhatia and other members recalled strong neighborhood opposition to a prior large development and asked whether the plan should omit a particular connection into Biscayne Avenue to address residents' worries about added traffic. Staff replied Biscayne has been planned as an 80-foot collector since the subdivision was platted and noted that State Trunk Highway 31 in the area is limited-access; without internal collector connections, traffic would be pushed to other intersections, increasing system-wide stress. Commissioners also discussed ownership of intervening parcels (Wilkes Farm and Kramer properties), emergency access, and truck traffic from nearby industrial uses. One commissioner suggested limiting direct single-family driveways onto Oaks Road to reduce cut-through and truck impacts.
Multiple commissioners supported keeping the Oaks Road and Biscayne connections while using roundabouts, curb extensions and other calming measures to address neighborhood speed and cut-through concerns. Staff said the draft would be revised to incorporate commission comments and brought back for a formal public-hearing process within the next few months.
The discussion was informational; no formal amendments to the ordinance or final actions were taken at this meeting. Staff will coordinate with developers and adjacent neighborhoods before returning to the commission for public hearings.
