Public has mixed reaction to Sheboygan Area School District’s release of traffic study for proposed Urban Middle School site

SHEBOYGAN – Mumbled frustration and sarcastic laughs echoed the Urban Middle School auditorium Monday during the Sheboygan Area School District’s presentation of the traffic study encompassing Mill and Najacht roads.

Sentiments like “laughable” and “one-sided” could be heard from members of the audience after the less than one-hour meeting. Starting at 6 p.m. March 6, an engineer presented the results outlining the study findings until about 6:30, when SASD opened the floor to questions from the audience — written and submitted on comment cards — for the next 20 minutes.

At the time, the ending to questions was met with grumbles and irritation from the crowd. Later, Seth Harvatine, SASD superintendent, said all questions about the traffic study were answered and questions about other topics can be addressed at other meetings.

“I'm sorry people felt that way,” Harvatine said. “But people who wanted to have their questions raised and asked about the traffic study surely had that opportunity, as well as the ability to stay after and do that.”

SASD administration remained after the meeting to talk with people who stayed to ask questions and voice their concerns. People who left their contact information on the cards will also be followed up with, he said.

The meeting was attended by about 100 members of the public, some of whom brought a sign with a red circle and slash reading “Urban School on Mill Road” that sat against seats at the entrance to the auditorium.

During the meeting, Don Lee, senior traffic engineer for Traffic Analysis & Design, reported a summary presentation of the results and helped answer questions raised by members of the audience.

One question was raised about how much the two recommended traffic signals at intersections by Mill Road would cost. Lee said a signal typically costs between $300,000 and $400,000.

SASD said that cost can be covered by the budget allowance already given to the Urban rebuild project.

One concern voiced by audience members was safety in the area, as there are not sidewalks where the school is proposed, and residents say the roads can become treacherous in winter weather.

Lee answered the concern by saying sidewalks are recommended to be put in within the limits of the school with continental-style crosswalks installed where students may cross the road to ensure their safety.

Harvatine told the Sheboygan Press that sidewalks will not be added to Mill Road outside of school boundaries, as SASD does not intend for people to walk along that road.

School district survey: Get a Sheboygan Area School District survey in your mailbox? Here’s everything you need to know about it.

As far as safety of the roads themselves, Lee said that was not a consideration for this study.

“Obviously, that was one of the pieces that we keep hearing is that there's a lot of accidents, people are saying, whether that's perceived or whether that's true data,” Harvatine said.

“We've contracted with TADI to just pull accident data,” Harvatine added. “That came out after this study, we typically don't do those types of studies for this kind of a project, but because of the number of people that were voicing it, we want to be proactive.”

Along with the safety concern, one resident asked if inclement weather was a factor in the analysis. When Lee said it was not — they conduct the study to show a typical day’s data and don’t design for the worst-case scenario — audible reactions of frustration rippled through the crowd.

Another concern voiced by audience members was congestion with the nearby Pigeon River Elementary School.

With staggered start times, students will arrive to Urban Middle School about an hour before the elementary students and leave earlier in the day, resulting in no traffic overlap, Lee said.

After the meeting ended, many people stayed to talk in small groups and voice their concerns.

Sentiments like “it’s not proper placement for a school,” there’s no infrastructure at the new location, and it’s “risky” to have the increased traffic as most residents back out of their driveways in the area were voiced.

Suggestions for fixing the placement concern seemed to heavily surround combining schools or building on the land across from Field of Dreams, which Froedert Health recently bought from SASD.

One reason Harvatine told Sheboygan Press the Field of Dreams location is not feasible for a school is because the location is outside of Urban’s attendance range, as it’s in Horace Mann Middle School’s region.

For why combining schools isn’t being considered by SASD, Harvatine said one reason is that doing so would mean many more children are being put on one location. When looking at traffic concerns and people being worried about too much congestion, this would only increase issues with one school being two or three times larger than they already are.

One of the most voiced concerns after the meeting was worries about SASD not listening to the public and their seeming disdain for the project.

“I don’t think they’re being truthful with us,” one resident said.

SASD lands grant: How Sheboygan Area School District will use a $400K grant to extend mental health and suicide prevention services to more students

Harvatine told Sheboygan Press SASD has been putting in effort to listen to the public by hosting listening sessions, sending out a mass survey for residents of the district and even in holding Monday’s meeting.

“We typically do that later in the process,” Harvatine said. “So in this case, we're being very transparent and very listening to the concerns. And that's why we chose to speed this process up and say, ‘We need to have this and ahead of the community survey, or at the same time as the community survey.’”

The survey results will be reported at the June 25 Board of Education meeting. Based on those results, the board will make an ultimate decision on the future of the project, Harvatine said.

“Obviously, the referendum is a big piece when they, as a community, vote to give us the permission to take the money necessary in order for us to construct these new buildings,” he said.

While the traffic survey meeting was not met with all positive reactions, Harvatine said there has been positive feedback from the community.

People have voiced their optimism for the project in terms of HVAC systems, increased greenspace, additional natural lighting and more. People have also shown appreciation for the district's ability to use the buildings for nearly a century, said Jacob Konrath, assistant superintendent of student and instructional services.

“Location’s always going to be a hot topic,” he said. “We have to advocate for what's best for kids. And certainly, we can look at all the development in that area. This is a nice site for kids, for green space, for all the things that we want to offer to our students — for generations to come.”

Have a story tip or public interest concern? Contact Sam Bailey at sgbailey@gannett.com or 573-256-9937. To stay up to date on her stories and other news, follow her on X (Twitter) @SamarahBailey.

This article originally appeared on Sheboygan Press: Sheboygan school district gets mixed reaction to Urban traffic study