The Maple Avenue road improvement project is expected to swing into high gear this week, with Brookfield officials telling residents to expect some inconveniences during the roughly two-month
project.
The work area will include Maple Avenue from 31st Street to the Burlington Northern-Santa Fe railroad tracks, with extensive reconstruction of the road and sewer system south of the Memorial Circle.
In a letter sent by former Village Manager Dave Owen to residents near the construction area in late August, drivers should expect Maple Avenue to be closed to through traffic from Brookfield Avenue to the Memorial Circle for approximately four weeks, although local traffic will have access to Maple Avenue via the cross streets. However, Maple Avenue may be closed completely at times to allow work on the sewers and street to be completed.
In addition to resurfacing Maple Avenue south of the circle, work crews will be making several water main improvements.
Maple Avenue is one of two principal streets in Brookfield that cross the BNSF tracks. During the time that Maple Avenue south of the circle is closed to through traffic, vehicles traveling north from the south end of Brookfield will be detoured at Ogden Avenue to Prairie Avenue. At Washington Avenue, vehicles will be directed back west toward the Memorial Circle.
Cars traveling south will be detoured east on Washington Avenue to Prairie Avenue and finally to Ogden, where they will be routed back west to Maple Avenue.
There are two water mains running down Maple Avenue, a newer 12-inch main that runs underneath the west parkway and an old 4-inch main running underneath Maple Avenue. The plan south of the circle is to abandon the old 4-inch main and connect any houses still being serviced by the 4-inch main to the 12-inch main. Village Engineer Derek Treichel estimated that 10 to 15 homes will be switched to the 12-inch main.
In addition, the 12-inch main will be cross-connected with other water mains running east/west along cross streets. When making those connections, water service will be interrupted for between four and six hours, affecting homes
south of the circle and some businesses
at Eight Corners. The cross-
connections will be made at Fairview, Sheridan, Jackson, Sherman and Lincoln avenues.
Treichel added that residents and businesses may experience more than one water service interruption during construction. Treichel said he does not expect water service to be interrupted at S.E. Gross School, which is south of the circle at 3524 Maple Ave.
“We will try to schedule any water main shut down during non-school hours, on weekends or after school is out,” Treichel said.
Gross School Principal Thomas Hurlburt and District 95 Superintendent Dr. Douglas Rudig met with village officials and contractors during the planning stages. Both said that school access should not be affected greatly, since student drop-offs or pick-ups are allowed at any time on Maple Avenue.
“Lincoln Avenue will still be open and the circle is still open, and we still have Broadway,” Hurlburt said. “It won’t be a huge inconvenience. Surprisingly it should be as minimal an inconvenience as possible. Noise may be a factor.”
Work will not be as extensive north of the Memorial Circle, and the road will not be closed to through traffic for any long stretches.
“It’s just a grind and resurface of the pavement with minimal curb work,” Treichel said. “We may close the north end of Maple Avenue for three days to place the [asphalt] and get pavement markings in. But we’ll probably do that after the south side work is finished.”
Treichel said that work on Maple Avenue should be completed by late October. Since Maple Avenue is a designated “collector” route in Brookfield, part of the funding for the street work is coming from the federal government.
Prairie Avenue, another village collector route is slated for both road and sewer improvements in 2006 (31st to Washington Avenue) and 2007 (Washington Avenue to Brookfield Avenue).
