County seeks input for better highway safety north of I-90

La Crosse County’s rural highways can provide motorists with pleasant scenic drives, but those roadways can also present safety hazards. The hills, curves and other conditions can make travel on those highways and byways risky under certain conditions.

To determine how to make the county’s rural roads safer, the La Crosse County Highway Department has embarked on a two-year safety impovement study of all the county highways.

“This study is not a routine study,” said La Crosse County Highway Commissioner Ron Chamberlain. “It is something we have proactively engaged in in order to aid us in identifying problems, prioritizing those problems and then planning to take care of them.”

This is the second year of the study, and this year’s research will focus on approximately 150 miles of county highway, mainly located north of Interstate 90. County highways south of I-90 were studied last year.

To get input from the public about the safety issues on the county’s northern roadways, the highway department will hold three open houses. The first open house will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. Monday, April 18, at Holland Town Hall, W7937 Hwy. MH, west of Holmen.

The next open house will be from 4 to 6 p.m. Wednesday, April 20, at Farmington Town Hall, N8309 Hwy. 108, Mindoro, with the last one to run from 3 to 5 p.m. Thursday, April 21, at Burns Town Hall, W1313 Jewett Road.

At the open houses, the highway department will present a brief introduction of the process and scope of the study along with some materials for viewing. After the introduction, those attending the open houses will have the opportunity to ask questions and offer input.

Information gathered about crashes, curves and field conditions will be combined with specific public input to develop recommendations that will be submitted to the highway department for future planning and budgeting purposes.

“General inspections of the highways are formally conducted every other year,” said Chamberlain. “In between the formal inspection, the section patrol workers, the highway superintendents and others provide information on situations they see as needing to be addressed.”

Along with a review of the five-year crash histories to identify patterns, severity and factors connected with those crashes and comparing that data with state-wide averages for similar roadways, researchers will note hazards such as curves, hills, intersection problems, bike/pedestrian conflicts, narrow shoulders, rutting and visibility restrictions.

Chamberlain said there are many possible reasons or causes for highway hazards. A number have resulted in changes made by owners with property along the highway as well as those who use the roads.

“Perhaps a resident installed an improper mailbox support; perhaps the standards of guardrail have changed; perhaps drivers’ habits and speeds have changed,” said Chamberlain. “Cable guard is a good example of a safety issue that will show up in the final report. This is due to changes in technology that enhances safety, changes in driver behavior and changes in traffic speeds. Now, a new installation will require a beam guard.”

An example of the results of the field review is the study completed on Hwy. T. The study found several curves in the road along the 10.42 mile stretch from Hwy. 53 to Hwy. 108 were missing warning signs or had incorrect speed advisory signs posted.

The estimate for improving the safety on that road is $880,700. The recommended upgrades on Hwy. T included relocating utility poles, installing speed and curve warning signs, installing and upgrading guard rails, regrading ditch slopes, removing trees and installing centerline rumble strips and edgeline markings.

Members of the public unable to attend the any of the three open houses may contact Tammy Kuehlmann,, transportation engineering at Donohue & Associates, to submit comments and concerns regarding specific safety issues on a county highway. Kuehlmann can be reached by calling 920-803-7364, emailing tkuehlmann@donohue-associates.com or mailing her at 3311 Weeden Creek Road, Sheboygan, WI 53081. The engineering firm asks that information should be as specific as possible as to the safety concern and location.