DOT Pitching 8 Highway 38 Route Alternatives

Plans to reroute Highway 38 won’t likely take place for a number of years, but the question of what path the state highway will follow is a major sticking point.

Representatives from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation originally had 34 alternative routes for Highway 38, but that number has dwindled to eight. Tthey outlined those plans at a Village Board meeting Tuesday.

Brian Wilson, an engineer with the DOT, explained that those eight alternative routes have been grouped into subcategories, which include following along Highway H, the existing Highway 38 corridor and the Canadian Pacific Railway railroad line. A fourth alternative subgroup was also designated, but was tossed out because it didn’t meet the DOT’s requirements.

With that said, village trustee Lee Wishau said he didn’t understand the need to reroute the road at all because the road could just be fixed.

“I know you said there are safety issues, but part of the issue is that the speed is too high,” Wishau said.

The DOT’s proposed route alternatives for Highway 38 from Oakwood Road to Highway K are needed because of the high number of car crashes along those roads.

The intersections at Highway 38 and 4 Mile Road, 5 Mile Road, and County H/6 Mile Road have been identified as having crash rates higher than 1.5 times the state average, according the DOT’s Wisconsin Corridor Re-Evaluation document.

• County K to 6 Mile Road has a crash rate of 2.6 times the statewide average,
• Along 6 Mile Road to Oakwood Road the crash rate is 1.3 times the statewide average.

“Typically, when an intersection crash rate approaches a value of 1 there is a concern, and when they exceed a value of 1.5, improvements should be pursued,” according to the document.

No decisions have been made as to with which alternative the DOT will move forward.

To view the alternatives, concerned citizens are invited to a project information meeting from 5 to 7 p.m. Dec. 12 at Gifford Elementary, 8332 Northwestern Ave.

To see a map of the alternatives, check out the newsletter_v2 file in the .pdf section under the photo gallery.