After Five Long Years, 124th Street Will be Improved

A stretch of road on the city’s western border in desperate need of an upgrade will finally be repaved and reconstructed starting in April.

And we do mean finally.

Plans to work on a stretch of 124th Street from Cold Spring Road to Grange Avenue from April 23 through Sept. 1 have been approved after more than five years of preparations.

A grant application for the project was approved in 2007, but various roadblocks kept the road on a perpetual “to-do” list.

“It’s taken time in design. It’s taken time to acquire real estate, and it’s taken time to get all the necessary approvals from the state,” said Richard Sokol, Greenfield’s Director of Neighborhood Services. “We’ll be happy when it’s done.”

We Energies had to move some power poles and a petroleum pipeline had to be relocated, further delaying the project, according to Sokol.

Sokol said the road will be closed April 24 through the end of August, except to local traffic. The section of road receiving work serves as a border between Greenfield and New Berlin and stretches into Hales Corners.

The stretch from Cold Spring Road to Beloit Road, which already has curbs and gutters, will be resurfaced. From Beloit Road to Layton Avenue, a stretch used by many freeway commuters, will receive storm sewers, curbs and gutters and street lighting. Improved ditching and a repaved driving surface is in store for the stretch from Layton Avenue to Grange Avenue.

Greenfield will pay $156,200 toward the $2.5 million project, 80 percent of which is covered by a grant.

An informal public info meeting about the project will be held in the Council Chambers of New Berlin City Hall, 3805 S. Casper Dr., New Berlin, at 5 p.m. April 11. Construction representatives will be on hand to display plans and answer questions.