Waukesha River Valley Road change; residents, police data disagree

WAUKESHA, Wis. - From a dead end to a slick shortcut, people in one Waukesha neighborhood say a big change to their street is causing a rush of traffic.

One resident from the area of River Valley Road and State Highway 59 has a proposal to fix it. He wants to see the end of the street closer ot Highway 59 only open to emergency vehicles with a chain across to keep traffic out. 

"River Valley Road used to be kind of a dead-end street," said Tom Duhn.

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Duhn liked it that way, but said in the seven years he has lived there things have changed a lot. He said problems started when new apartments and a gas station opened last year, and the city connected River Valley Road to Les Paul Parkway. 

"It’s greatly increased the volume of traffic," said Duhn. "We see people using this road through our neighborhood as a bypass to get around a lot of stuff."

Intersection of River Valley Road and Les Paul Parkway

Duhn said people now use the road as a shortcut to Waukesha West High School. FOX6 News spotted drivers there rolling through stop signs Tuesday. Last fall, the neighborhood asked police to look into the traffic trouble.

"The data simply suggests that there’s an overall decrease in that subdivision as a whole," said Capt. Dan Baumann.

Baumann said officers even spent 50 hours on River Valley Road last fall and pulled over 13 people. Ten of those people were from the subdivision.

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"A lot of the people are obviously traveling through here," said Baumann.

Baumann said connecting River Valley Road to Les Paul Parkway was part of the city's long-term plan. He said it is highly unlikely the city would consider reverting it back to a dead end.

There are stop signs at every intersection along the road. Duhn said they were added at the neighborhood's request – but aren't helping.