Safety and roadway improvements are now slated along Woodland Drive and Hwy. Q near the future Kilkenny Farms West development in Waunakee. This comes after the village board approved a development agreement and plan on Monday, June 3.
One of the most important portions of the plan relates to pedestrian safety, specifically that of children.
Many students travel along the western portion of Woodland Drive to get to and from Waunakee Intermediate School. The site of the new Heritage Elementary School is also right next-door.
Currently, an off-street path exists along the north side of the street. Though both schools are located on the south side, so students must cross Woodland Dr. to use the path, and whether they choose to do so when unsupervised is always up in the air.
To address the issue, plans are in place to develop a pedestrian path along the southern portion of the road leading up to the schools.
Don Tierney's Livable Communities has committed to constructing a large portion of the path in line with the recently approved Tax Increment Financing District (TID) amendment to TID 6.
Through the amendment, the village agreed to reimburse Tierney and his company $2.8 million to undertake public infrastructure improvements related to their 28-acre Kilkenny West residential development.
In exchange, Tierney's company will commit $5.04 million to construct the public infrastructure associated with developing Kilkenny West, including the Woodland Drive path.
However, the portion that Tierney's company can construct is limited to the TID boundaries, which stop just short of both schools. To complete the path the village will be responsible for the last segment, which is roughly 700 feet.
All parties involved, including the Waunakee Community School District, feel that the clock is ticking to get the path's construction underway. The hope is that it can be ready before the start of the 2024-25 school year.
Those at the June 3 meeting seemed confident that the project could be completed by that time. But, other roadway improvements related to the TID created more logistical gymnastics.
Hwy. Q corridor provides further complications
In addition to previously mentioned potions of Woodland Drive, a southern stretch of Hwy. Q also fall within TID 6. Tierney and Livable Communities already have plans and are committed to making improvements to the highway and its connections to Kilkenny Farms East and West.
The corridor is unique not only to Waunakee but also to many other similar municipalities in the area. On either side of the highway are planned/existing residential and commercial developments, creating a need for both motor vehicle and foot traffic.
Board members board mentioned how unsafe crossing Hwy. Q currently is in this area, especially at its intersection with Woodland Drive.
"More or less I haven't heard one person that said they'd be comfortable letting their child cross (Hwy.) Q, even with the improvements that are listed in this agreement," Trustee Robert McPherson at the June 3 meeting.
It should be noted that at the June 3 meeting, village staff acknowledged that future collaboration between the school district and the village will occur to make the intersection safer. Elements such as large crosswalk stripes, pedestrian refuges located at the medians and button-activated signals were mentioned.
Because of the state of pedestrian safety within the highway corridor, the board wanted to ensure the reconstruction project is done properly.
To tackle this, the board also unanimously voted to contract a traffic study regarding the Hwy Q corridor, and how best to move forward, through MSA Professional Services.
However, the board quickly realized that it was possible for the developer to begin construction on the roadway based on their own plans before the MSA study is complete.
Thus, the timing and nature of the Tierney's Kilkenny West infrastructure projects gave village trustees pause.
Dave Moll, of Moll Construction, a grading contractor for the Tierneys, clarified at the June 3 meeting that the Hwy. Q improvements were scheduled as one of the last phases of the project, and wouldn't take place until 2025.
To address the issue, the board entered closed session to slightly alter the language of the development agreement.
The resulting agreement states that Tierney's company won't make any changes to the southern portion of Hwy. Q until the MSA study is complete.
However, if no agreement is reached on plans for the roadway by Feb. 28, 2025, then the developer will be permitted to move ahead as planned.
Throughout the TID amendment discussions, residents have come before the board to vouch for the quality infrastructure that the Tierneys build within their communities. The June 3 meeting was no different. Several Waunakee citizens spoke anecdotally during public comment to Don Tierney's willingness to work with the community on this subject.
The resulting agreement between the developer and the village appeared as a good faith compromise from both parties.
If the MSA study is not complete in a timely manner, then the development can still proceed without pause.
Meanwhile, the village still has the opportunity to promote pedestrian-first traffic infrastructure as it moves into the future, an objective that some trustees have advocated heavily for.
"Pedestrians are important, so I think as we keep going with things this should be something I hope we have a plan for as we're making road changes... I think it's great if we can duplicate this process other places in town too," Trustee Erin Moran said at the June 3 meeting.
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