Construction on Mequon Road causes delays, unsafe circumstances
Students who live east of Homestead High School and who drive themselves to school via Mequon Road were met with an unpleasant surprise on the morning of Oct. 6. A traffic jam ranging from a third of a mile to a mile long slowed traffic to a standstill. The reason for the delay soon became apparent: construction in the middle of the intersection of River Road and Mequon Road.
According to a letter sent to Mequon residents on Oct. 3, 2014 from the Deputy Director of Public Works, “utility work on the city’s sanitary force main at Lift Station C [was] scheduled to commence Monday, Oct. 6.”
This road work caused students coming to school from the east side to have to re plan their route because “at one point [the traffic] almost stretched all the way to Lumen Christi Church,” Doug Lennon, junior, said. “And it was just a pain to get through all of it. I just have to leave way earlier.”
The delay has led to students arriving to school late, especially on Monday morning, even though they may have left their houses at their usual time. “Tardies have significantly increased since the beginning of the construction,” Mrs. Linda Winters, attendance secretary, explained. “On the day it began, there were about 40 students crowded into the front office area trying to sign in.”
In addition to resulting in tardies and overall annoyance, the stop-and-go traffic also poses a safety issue “for the novice drivers,” Mrs. Vicki Boehm, hall monitor, said.
This issue was exemplified this morning, Thursday, Oct. 9, when at least five Homestead students in three cars were involved in an accident on Mequon Road, east of River Road. One car rear-ended the car stopped in front of it, which then ran into another car that was also at a standstill because of the vehicle congestion.
Nobody was injured; Katie Soyka, junior, was the driver of the first car that was rear-ended, and stated that she is “still shaking” six hours later from the shock of the crash. “The worst part of it was the sound; the metal crunching was horrible,” Soyka said.
Construction is scheduled to last at least until Friday, Oct. 10, if there are not any further delays due to weather or any other unanticipated situations.
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