Gluckstadt Road will soon be gaining an additional east-bound lane. Madison County officials recently approved Neel-Schaffer engineering to begin the design services.
“We have ongoing efforts to improve our road system,” County Engineer Dan Gaillet said. “We need to add an additional lane on the south side, (going) east… I’m recommending to the county that we hire Neel-Schaffer to perform professional services in designing that additional lane in the amount of $235,000.”
The board approved Gaillet’s recommendation.
Neel-Schaffer performed the Gluckstadt Road micro-study in October for the county to see what else can be done to improve traffic conditions in the Gluckstadt area.
“We’re taking a hard look at it,” Gaillet said. “The study is a micro-view that will look for opportunities to make more improvements to push traffic down Gluckstadt.”
So far, Gaillet said the county has already seen improvements with the installation of a traffic light at the intersection of Distribution Drive and Gluckstadt, but more can be done.
Last year, Neel-Schaffer engineers conducted a transportation study on the six-mile road, along with others in south Madison County. Gluckstadt varies from two to four lanes, and the roadway was classed as a rural artery in the study.
As a long-term improvement, the study recommended that Gluckstadt be widened for 1.5 miles between Calhoun Parkway and Bozeman Road, and that a multi-use path be implemented as well.
More than 83 collisions have occurred Gluckstadt Road in six years, and peak traffic counts during the morning and afternoon school carpool hours range from approximately 1,500 to 1,650, according to the study.
“We’ve taken the first step. We want to make it to the second step,” Gaillet said. “We’re strictly looking at trying to improve traffic operations.”
In terms of ideas to improve congestion, Gaillet said nothing is off the table at this point.
“We’re trying to find the most cost-effective things we can do to help traffic operations through that area,” he said. “We’re two to three weeks away from having that study completed.”
Weisenberger Road is also going to receive a small but significant upgrade. Gaillet recommended the county hire Santec Engineering to add an east-bound lane there as well from the railroad tracks to U.S. Highway 51.
Mendrop Engineering completed a flood study on Weisenberger Road recently as well, as the county road has suffered increasing issues with flooding during heavy rains.
To completely eliminate the flooding will cost approximately $1.7 million.
Besides cars getting stuck in the flood waters, emergency services are located on Weisenberger, posing an even bigger problem for people needing fire or police respondents.
“That particular area’s been a problem for years, but it does flood severely if there’s any significant amount of rainfall, and it does inhibit the flow of emergency vehicles from the interstate to the Gluckstadt (and Highway) 51 area,” Sheriff Randy Tucker said in an August board of supervisors’ meeting.
Minor Norman, county emergency management director, also spoke to the conditions of Weisenberger: “Seeing that road, it is bad for the fire department out there.”
“Basically, Bear Creek flows from the south and works its way to the northside of the CO2 facility and the gas station on the corner (of Weisenberger) at (U.S. Highway) 51,” Gaillet said.
Matheson Tri-gas and the Gluckstadt Texaco are located on that corner.
Between the railroad tracks and Highway 51, Weisenberger falls lower than the railroad and Highway 51.
“So, when there are bigger rain events, the storm water will breach Weisenberger,” Gaillet said.
There is also a box culvert under the railroad. A box culvert allows water to flow under a road, railroad, trail, or similar obstruction from one side to the other.
Part of the county’s plan is to work with the railroad company to fix the box culvert, reducing some of the creek’s overflow.
“In addition to raising the roadway approximately three feet,” Gaillet said.
