Smooth Sailing Awaits Drivers at Pilgrim Road and Main Street

If you live in Menomonee Falls, at some point you’ve traversed the rough, broken concrete terrain that is the intersection of Main Street and Pilgrim Road

Well, good news for those with weary shocks.

The village will pave the intersection Friday night, and it should be smooth sailing for vehicles there for the foreseeable future. The notorious intersection has been oft cited as one of the worst roadways in Falls, and was pegged for repairs for over a year by the village’s Engineering Department.

The timing of the announcement was impeccable, as it was the primary complaint lodged by Falls resident Larry Wirgin Monday night during the Village Board meeting.

“The intersection at Pilgrim Road and Main Street is a disaster. I’ve been complaining about that for over a year,” Wirgin said. “Like Bill Clinton said a few weeks ago, I have seen zero workers in Menomonee Falls doing any patch working. I try to avoid that area.”

Before Wirgin could finish his critique of the village’s approach to maintaining the roads, Village President Randy Newman politely interrupted him.

“Can I interrupt you for a second? We’re be paving that Friday night,” Newman said.

“Oh, really?!” Wirgin replied to a chorus of laughs.

The paving project is really just a stop-gap measure for the immediate future. In the long term, Waukesha County has plans to reconstruct Pilgrim Road within two years.

The village maintains about 220 miles of roads throughout Falls. Every other year, the Engineering Department assesses the roadways using a standardized evaluation system that assigns a numeric value to the condition of a road.

A road rated at a 10 is basically a newly constructed or paved road free of blemishes. A road rated at a 1 is considered a failed roadway turning into rubble and in need of total reconstruction. The village tracks these roads with a color-coded map that illustrates the condition of all village roads.

Roads rated at a 2 have severe distortions, potholes, extensive patching and what is called alligator cracking. Alligator cracking gives the pavement the appearance of alligator scales.

What other roadways should be a priority for village leaders in your opinion? Tell us in the comments section of this story.