Committee orders short-term safety fixes and asks staff to add medians at Sunset Drive and Guthrie Road to CIP

At its June 30 meeting, the Waukesha Building and Grounds Committee voted to add temporary, more robust stop markings at the Sunset Drive and Guthrie Road intersection and directed staff to include a median-and-sign package in the city’s capital improvements program (CIP).

The committee moved first to try low-cost, interim measures that staff and consultants described as achievable this year and to seek funding next budget cycle for a median option. “We could do all the tiers. We could do one of the tiers, or multiple of them,” said Craig (staff member), explaining the short‑term/long‑term tiered approach. Short‑term measures the report listed included restriping and pavement marking, additional flags or speed‑feedback signs, and flashing stop signs on approach.

Andy Raul, a traffic engineer with Ayers Associates, summarized the longer options and their approximate costs and tradeoffs. “One long‑term option we looked at was a compact roundabout, which could fit in that intersection,” Raul said. He estimated a roundabout at between $500,000 and $1 million. The median proposal, including restriping, flashing signs, ADA upgrades and a mill‑and‑overlay of the intersection, was estimated at about $220,000. Raul said a traffic signal would likely cost a minimum of about $200,000–$250,000 for equipment alone and would also require roadway work.

Several committee members and nearby residents urged the committee to pursue a durable fix. “I would like to see a roundabout there. I think that is the safest long‑term option to handle the traffic and the behavior of people,” said Paul Leteska, Alderman, District 9. Residents who live within a few blocks described frequent rolling stop behavior and higher speeds. Julie Griffey, who said she lives three blocks from the intersection, asked the committee to “get into the long term plan” for safer control. Angie Beck, a City of Muskego police officer who lives at the corner, offered video evidence of reckless driving and said roundabouts installed elsewhere reduced crash severity.

Committee discussion weighed effectiveness against budget realities. Some members said the existing temporary stop signs placed by the city garage had reduced rolls through the intersection but were repeatedly knocked over. Committee members asked staff about cheaper interim options that could be deployed this year: Craig said flags and a more permanent temporary center sign (for example a weighted barrel or sand‑filled drum) could be done within the current budget. Craig said an all‑in short‑term package (doing every recommended short‑term item) was approximately $53,000, but that work might be scrapped if a larger, permanent project followed.

After deliberation the committee approved a motion to flag all stop signs near the intersection, make the center stop sign more robust, and direct staff to include the median option in the FY26 CIP. The motion was seconded by Rick Lemke and passed on a voice vote.