Wobbly Internet Service Along Janesville Road Gives Businesses Headaches

It's one thing not to be able to check Facebook, but quite another when conducting business and making a living comes to a screeching halt.

Such was the case for many business owners along Janesville Road on Monday, as they reported problems with internet service. City officials confirmed that workers burying cable for Janesville Road reconstruction were the culprit, though it was not immediately clear if a line was cut or damaged.

Issues began around 9:30 a.m., with some like Frenz Hair and Designing Nails telling Muskego Patch that their service was "out all day, beginning at 12:30 p.m."

Jeff Paula commented on Facebook, "They're good at that...in 2011 during Durham Drive reconstruction, I lost count the number of times they cut our internet cable."

With credit card sales depending on internet and ordering for places like Domino's, Jimmy Johns and many others also coming from online customers, the incident was more than inconvenient.

"We basically had to keep track (of costs) by hand, and hope that our customers answered their phones when we got back online, said Andy Meinen, co-owner of Jimmy John's. He said their service was out from 12:30 to 7 p.m.

Many other residents as far as the Moorland and Woods Road area reported problems. Others said the service was in and out, with most reporting that by later evening things were back to normal.

Along with WE Energies, Time Warner Cable and AT&T crews have been working on the south side of Janesville to bury cables in preparation for road reconstruction later in June. While Ed Hinrichs, lead engineer in Waukesha County for the road project, was unaware of the disruption, he said that service issues with utilities should always be directed to the utility companies and not the city or the county.