Green Haze Avenue Improvements

Green Haze Avenue in the Village of Mount Pleasant was in poor driving condition due to severely deteriorated pavement caused by poor soils and dense tree cover. Due to the narrow limits of this rural, tree-canopied roadway, motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians were unable to safely utilize the roadway. Rising operation and maintenance costs were impacting the Village’s ability to maintain this corridor. Finally, many low-lying properties were experiencing flooding issues that were exasperating the failing pavement and causing issues for the property owners.

The Village desired to convert Green Haze Avenue from a rural to urban section, including widening the roadway and designing a stormwater management system that would both accommodate drainage and meet Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) water quality standards. The Village reached out to raSmith based on the firm’s extensive experience in similar rural to urban roadway reconstruction projects and their creative approaches to stormwater management for other communities. This video takes a look at the new urban section along Green Haze Avenue. The roadway was designed and constructed to ensure we improved drainage within the right-of-way and mitigated flooding concerns on private properties.

raSmith’s design included lowering the roadway section to mitigate flooding concerns on private property, mitigate the poor soils under the existing roadway and improve safety. A combination of behind-the-curb swales and inlets were designed to solve the drainage issues on private property while oversizing the storm sewer structures with the addition of sumps, which aided in addressing WDNR water quality requirements.

Stakeholder buy-in was vital to the success of the project given the major changes planned for the roadway. Property owners needed to embrace the benefits of improved drainage and safety over the perceived privacy feel of the existing roadway. Public information meetings were held to solicit input from stakeholders. A decision was made to move forward with the Village’s preferred design alternative explained above.

The Village and its residents are pleased with the project outcome. In addition to improvements to drainage, safety and its overall riding condition, Green Haze Avenue’s lifecycle costs have decreased with its conversion from asphalt to concrete.