Highway 38 Expansion A No-Go

The state Department of Transportation announced Wednesday that a planned expansion of Highway 38 is no longer being considered.

The nine-mile length of roadway would have undergone a complete makeover including rerouting, widening and resurfacing starting in 2020. The proposed work zone would have extended from Highway K north to Oakwood Road.

Some work on a study has already been completed, DOT Secretary Mark Gottlieb wrote in a statement, but work on 38 is not considered as high a priority as other projects underway across the state.

"Suspending work on the WIS 38 study will allow the department to address more significant priorities," Gottlieb wrote.

Still, the DOT promises to look at "less-costly" ways to increase mobility and safety.

Caledonia Village Trustee and state Rep. Tom Weatherston agrees with the decision. In a written statement released after he learned of the DOT's decision, Weatherston thinks saving taxpayers millions of dollars is the way to go.

"(This is) the right choice," he wrote. "The proposed route was unneeded and was opposed by many of the residents in the area ... (and) saves the taxpayers millions in construction costs, millions that would have to have been borrowed to pay for a new road.”

Expanding 38 was first proposed in 2010 by the state Transportation Projects Committee. In December 2012 DOT officials presented a variety of ideas to residents about re-routing the roadway, but residents opposed most of those options because they cut through a number of farms.

Gottlieb is leaving the door open for a future project with Highway 38.

"The (DOT) may request the TPC to consider de-enumeration of the project at a later date,"