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The design process for Monroe County’s new justice center is on schedule, Thomas Poweleit of Venture Architects told the County Board’s Building Committee on July 10. But a plan for road access to the new facility is still up in the air after a representative from the Department of Transportation discussed three options with the committee.
Poweleit told the committee that the project is in a schematic design phase, and design meetings are going very well. He said that designs are within the 146,000 square feet needed to stay within budget. The entrance to the site was left undecided.
Mike Lenz, from the Department of Transportation (DOT), shared three possible options with the committee, but also said that there may be other options available.
“The county needs to decide what they want to do,” Lenz said. “Are they going to acquire land? Do they want to sell land? They are not ready to make a decision yet.”
One option was to make the primary entrance off Theatre Road, should the county be able to purchase the Wermer property near the road for access. A second option is to allow driveway access off Riley Road, which the DOT does not recommend. This option would involve the creation of a four-way intersection to turn into the justice center site, a right turn lane and a bypass area. The option would be, essentially, a continuation of Riley Road on the other side of Highway 16.
The third option, which representatives from the DOT have said is the most favorable option, would be an offset T intersection off Highway 16 leading to the site. The intersection would be roughly 875 feet to the west from the Riley Road intersection, and would also require a right turn and bypass lane.
The committee hopes to be able to bring a recommendation for access to the site to the County Board in August.
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