MG&E outlines utility-relocation plan, committee presses for pedestrian safety and clearer phasing

MG&E project manager Matt Colvin told the Middleton Pedestrian, Bicycle and Transit Committee that private utilities must be relocated ahead of a Dane County bridge replacement at Pheasant Branch Creek. "The existing bridge has outlasted its useful life and needs replacement," Colvin said, and the relocations are needed so the bridge project'which will include a bike/ped underpass and a new trailhead'can proceed.

Colvin and senior gas design engineer Roger Ellis described a staged traffic-control plan for County Highway M that includes directional drilling under the creek and planned nighttime closures for limited tie-ins. Colvin said the utility work will be done "as quickly and as safely as possible" and that sidewalks and bus locations will generally be maintained; he told the committee that MG&E plans to begin telecom drilling in late August to early September.

Committee members pressed for sharper phasing maps and clearer timing so residents can plan around temporary sidewalk closures and bus-stop moves. "I don't see on this phase 3, on that south side, any information about the timing, the duration," a committee member said, citing concerns for a bus stop and neighbors who walk frequently. Members proposed additional signage and use of city reader boards to give advance notice. MG&E acknowledged some closures shown on the plan are a "worst-case scenario" and said the south-side sidewalk closures may be very short in duration or avoid closure entirely.

The consultants also addressed the Amherst crossing, saying there is currently no formal pedestrian crossing at Amherst and that installing a temporary signal or RRFB would require City of Middleton approval and could affect Century Avenue traffic. "If the City of Middleton allows it, I guess we can put it to the plan," Roger Ellis said, but he warned that signalizing that crossing would have traffic impacts.

Staff said it will collect the committee's requests for clearer phasing, more diagrams, and public-notice plans and forward them to the project team. The committee asked staff to coordinate with Middleton communications to post timelines and signage so parents, bus riders and vulnerable users have advance notice.