Photo by gianluigi galbiati via stock.xchng
Officials representing the Wisconsin Department of Transportation briefed citizens and answered questions about an ongoing project to control access points on Highway 45 through Bristol and Paris.
The public informational meeting was held at the Kenosha County Center in Bristol.
In a presentation, which was not planned for the evening, Jon Schwichtenberg representing the project, said the object is to identify all current access to Highway 45 and keep it at that level. That way the highway can remain a two-lane road longer while still maintaining effective traffic flow and optimum safety.
“We’re documenting all the access points,” Schwichtenberg said, “and trying to maintain that through the future.”
The access control project is not intended to take away any existing access from property along Highway 45, Schwichtenberg said, but to identify and to some degree fix it.
The state would not like to see increased access to the highway if possible, said Susan Voight, SE Region Access Management coordinator for WisDOT.
“”We need to see less (new) access and more internal access,” Voight said. “We’re trying to avoid that driveway every 100 feet.”
Voight stressed that the access control project does not involve acquiring right of way or condemning property, though separate reconstruction projects set for the road may.
“The end product of this project is a map,” Voight said.
In an access control related move, Paris and Bristol have been asked to consider resolutions giving WisDOT control over the access from cross streets for 250 feet from Highway 45.
Monday, the Bristol Village Board rejected that resolution in a unanimous vote, preferring instead to retain its control over access points on access roads.
Paris town Chairman Virgil Gentz said at the informational hearing that the Paris Town Board has not made a formal decision on the resolution, but that he felt sentiment was against granting the authority to the state based on a meeting where the project was described to the Town Board.
