storyhill.net, Feb. 26, 2007

WisDOT eyes park land, parkway for freeway construction

Feb. 26 -- More than 150,000 square feet of Falk Park and the Root River Parkway could be lost or negatively affected due to the North-South I-94 reconstruction project, according to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.

Design options for a potential full interchange at I-94 and S. 27th St. and I-94 and Drexel Ave. in Oak Creek could require about an acre of Falk Park and about 2.5 acres of the Root River Parkway, according to John Oimoen, WisDOT development chief for the I-94 project.

"However, whether or not WisDOT would build a new interchange at I-94 and Drexel Avenue or 27th Street remains to be determined," he wrote to county Parks Director Sue Black.

An acre is 43,560 square feet. The total that could be affected by construction of the interchanges is 152,460 square feet.

The County Board's Parks Committee recommended last week that the Parks Department be authorized to negotiate mitigation measures with WisDOT.

Black said those measures could include land transfers or easements.

County Supervisor Lynne DeBruin, chair of the Parks Committee, said any proposals would come back to the committee.

"It's fairly preliminary in some ways," she said. "They aren't clear for sure what they want to do."

To see the Parks Committee freeway-related agenda items, including diagrams of potential interchange plans, click here.