The project of road improvement at Highway MM and Wis. Highway 38 in Racine County was supposed to be completed in November. Anyone who has driven in the area of the intersection of the two roads recently, however, can tell you that the project appears nowhere near completion.
The company handling the project, Cornerstone Pavers, is on the hot seat with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation for falling behind on projects at 13th Street between Drexel Avenue and Rawson Avenue in Oak Creek.
The company is also reportedly behind schedule on work under contract on National Avenue in West Allis. According to published reports, it is being fined $2,000 a day on that project.
Highway MM provides access to businesses, several homes in the area and Meadowbrook Country Club. Traffic has been reduced to one lane in one direction.
“The last three months have been the worst,” Shawn Voss, who owns Timer’s Beverage Center on Highway 38, told Milwaukee television station WTMJ. “The workers just kind of spring things on you – like closing off my driveway.”
WTMJ report on the Highway 38/Highway MM project delays.
Today’s TMJ4 report on local highway closings
The state is paying for 80 percent of the Racine County project, with the county paying the remaining 20 percent of the project costs.
“As I have made clear for months, the progress of work performed on the Highway MM project has been completely unacceptable — to Racine County, to our residents, and to our businesses,” Racine County Executive Jonathan Delagrave said in a statement.
“Though this project is under WisDOT oversight, the County has repeatedly expressed its frustrations with delays and sought WisDOT’s assistance in holding Cornerstone accountable,” the County Executive said. “We will continue to apply pressure until the last orange barrel is gone.”