Main Street Redesign to Involve Residents

Village residents will have a voice in a Main Street reconstruction plan that will reshape downtown for decades to come.

Among the issues related to include the future site of , straightening the Main Street and Silver Spring Drive intersection and spurring economic development in Sussex's central business area.

“We’re very excited about this,” said Eric Nitschke, village director of public works. “This is  really a big deal and I think there’s going to be a lot of neat things that everybody’s going to be very excited to see come out of this process.”

The village recently completed its review of proposals and a team of consultants has been selected in order to begin the design process, Nitschke said.

Once the village inks a contract with the consultants and gets the design process moving, forums to gather public input will begin, possibly by early fall, according to Jeremy Smith, village administrator.

“There will be a lot of public involvement,” Smith said. “There will plenty of opportunities for that.”

The Village Board already has approved a resolution to pursue federal and state money to make improvements to a critical element of the Main Street redevelopment plan. Under the resolution, the village would seek up to $200,000 in grant money for the relocation or "daylighting" of and $130,000 for water quality and possible stream relocations to Sussex Creek.

“The Wisconsin DNR requires you pass the resolution,” Nitschke said. “They basically want to know you’re on board moving forward with the work or it’s something that us as a community and the board as a whole is going to back.”