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The state Department of Transportation is in the process of documenting all access points to Highway 45 from the state line north through Kenosha County.
The federal highway passes through Bristol and Paris.
Representatives of the DOT and a consultant working with the DOT explained the program and its timeline at a Paris Town Board meeting Tuesday night. A similar presentation took place at a Bristol Village Board meeting last week.
Jon Paul Schwichtenberg, a consultant working with the DOT, explained that every access point to Highway 45 is being documented. The ultimate goal of the project will be to identify all current accesses and limit new accesses that might compromise Highway 45’s safety and traffic carrying capacity.
“What we’re trying to do is limit the number of new accesses,” Schwichtenberg said. “We’re not going to pull out driveways.”
Access management also should help hold off the day that the road might need added lanes, DOT representatives said.
All accesses have already been photographed and identified, Schwichtenberg said. The study does not involve any construction work.
Later on in the process, a public information meeting will be held. Later on yet, a public hearing will be held.
At some point, municipalities also will be asked to set a limit for access along their local roads that intersect with Highway 45.
Ultimately, a full report will be completed and the location of current accesses formally recorded against every property.
Town Chairman Virgil Gentz said he didn’t want to be excessively negative, but he had some concerns about the impact of the process on residents. He said he is aware of cases in the past in which residents either lost driveways or had a difficult time getting a new driveway approved.
“Bring some people along (the the public meetings),” Gentz advised the DOT representatives. “I think there will be some questions.”
The public meetings would likely take place this fall, Schwichtenberg said. The DOT would like to complete the process by early 2012.
