BROWN DEER, Wisconsin — Residents of Deerwood Crossing, a retirement community in Brown Deer, are raising concerns after drivers began using their parking lot as an unofficial detour around a construction project at the intersection of Teutonia Avenue and Sherman Boulevard.
The Teutonia and Sherman reconstruction project has prompted some drivers to bypass the official detour on Woodale Avenue and instead cut through the Deerwood Crossing parking lot, creating what residents describe as a dangerous situation.
Wayne Wilson, a Deerwood Crossing resident, said the problem has been getting worse.
"Just recently it's been really bad, just traffic acting like this is a regular street. They're not slowing down, even with people in the parking lot… they just don't care," Wilson said.
In about 30 minutes on site, TMJ4 reporter Brendyn Jones saw well over a dozen cars cut through the lot to get to the other side. At one point, nearly all of those cars were using the parking lot as a detour at the same time.
Wilson said warmer weather is making the situation more urgent, as more residents are spending time outside.
Watch: Brown Deer residents say some drivers are using senior community parking lot as a detour amid construction
"Especially with the nice weather you got more residents coming out side than it is in the winter, people need to slow down," Wilson said.
Wilson also worries that the new stop signs are being disregarded on Sherman.
"I was over in the corner coming across in the sidewalk and the lady came passed the stop sign, came into the parking lot stopped and said, 'I didn't see you, you shouldn't be walking a dog out here,'" Wilson said.
The team in charge of the project said they are aware of the issue and are actively working to address it, including working on traffic control measures.
Wilson said he is hoping for reflective lights on the stop signs, but acknowledged the responsibility ultimately falls on drivers.
"Something needs to get in their heads that there's people out here in the parking lot, they need to slow," Wilson said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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