State's Wealthiest Suburb Wants Traffic Dumped Elsewhere

The tony Village of Chenequa, which has the highest per-capita residential property value in the state, mandates large lots and big houses, and bans commercial property by its zoning code now wants the state to dump traffic that runs on Highway 83 through the exclusive Waukesha County Lake Country community into neighboring municipalities instead.

I don't recall the good folks in Chenequa siding with Milwaukee neighborhoods on the I-94 corridor when they fought the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission's freeway reconstruction and widening plan - - which calls for added lanes that will induce motorists to plunge into the I-94 commute.

Bit of a double-standard, eh?

The Village website is worth a visit, as it makes clear that the sole goal of the 90-year-old Village is providing "peace... quiet...and restfulness unobtainable in the City."

Village good: City bad.

But now there's more bad:

The Village website notes the "explosion" of development nearby - - sprawl, some would call it - - and its deleterious effects are spilling into Chenequa.

I guess one way to eliminate some traffic noise, and to maintain the Village's restfulness, is to divert traffic into someone else's backyard.

Hey - - if you're in certain nearby Waukesha, Washington or Dodge County municipalities, it seems as if Chenequa's traffic is better routed through your community.

Perhaps commuter rail could be instituted to serve the Lake Country and eliminate some of the 'rationale' for Chenequans and others who deign to drive on Highway 83 or through Chenequa itself.

If not...well, Chenequa...get used to the discovery made elsewhere: development ain't necessarily what its cracked up to be.