Safety improvements approved
Committee okays selective rumble strips, wider shoulders
The Marathon County Infrastructure Committee on Thursday voted to phase-in recommendations from a highway safety study, including use of rumble strips, better intersection signage and wider shoulders, in future highway projects.
The committee agreed to the safety measures following a presentation of the study by SRF engineer Renae Kuehl, Minneapolis.
The consultant said 551 people died and 39,723 were injured in 145,288 auto crashes in Wisconsin in 2019. This equates to 1.5 people dying and 109 people getting hurt each day.
Kuehl said nearly half of these deaths and injuries occur on county and local roads.
While very little can be done about car-deer collisions, she said, highway design can help minimize car crashes in rural areas served by county highways.
The most effective changes to highway design, Kuehl said, are those preventing intersection crashes and keeping people on highways with curves.
Safety enhancements for intersections are reflective signs and blinkers, the consultant said. Curve signage, rumble strips, wider shoulders and shoulders with safety edges are proven to help keep motorists on the road, she explained.
County highway engineer Kevin Lang said the county could make some of these features standard on highway design at a relatively small cost, perhaps only two percent of total project cost. He said some of these enhancements could be included on projects planned this year, including highway segments on CTH H south of CTH P and on CTH B south of CTH N.
In board discussion, supervisor Chris Dickinson, Stratford, asked about the use of roundabouts.
Kuehl said roundabouts are useful to reduce fatal accidents at intersections but are generally installed in areas with lowered speeds.
Supervisor John Robinson, Wausau, asked whether poor road quality was much of a safety problem. Kuehl said design issues were more critical than pavement quality.
Supervisor Richard Gumz, Holton, asked if the rumble strips affected snowplowing. He was told no, because they are only one-half inch deep.
In other committee business:
_ Highway commissioner Jim Griesbach announced that the Marathon County Sheriff’s Department reports few problems in towns that have passed a county ordinance and allow ATVs on their local roads.
To date, nine county townships do not allow ATVs on roadways. These include a block of five surrounding Marathon City, including Rib Falls, Stettin, Cassel, Marathon and Rib Mountain. Another four are Brighton, Bergen, Guenther and Harrison.
_ Committee members increased highway departments fees to better refl ect county costs for providing services. The new schedule of fees include: driveways and culverts, $100; overweight or oversized permits, $75; milk hauler permits, $75; open road cuts, $250 to $1,000; policy variances, $200; late fees, $100.
County fees have not been updated in 20 years, commissioner Griesbach said. He said the new fees are equal to those charged in other counties.
