There was a terrible accident at Highway 23 and North Street Tuesday afternoon. Two people were killed and a semi truck drive injured. The police were there for at least 8 hours. My sympathies to the families involved.
I would guess this intersection gets more accidents than any other in Green Lake county. The DOT wants to close the Lawson drive entrance into town. That is the wrong intersection. People should not be able to turn into town from this intersection or it needs an underpass for County A with no access to Highway 23. The DOT wants to make this intersection the only access to the town essentially. Big mistake.
Posts
26 comments:
I agree it it a BAD intersection, maybe an inexpensive but yet effective way of helping would be to reduce the speed limit to 45 MPH all the way past the ABA to the west. I think the accidents have certainly been reduced to the east of this intersection with the speed limit changed years ago. I cross this intersection daily, and it is scary---one must be VERY careful and then even tragic accidents can happen.
The DOT is willing to put a roundabout there free of charge but the hot shots of Brooklyn will fight it and are very against changes whether good or bad. An underpass or overpass is not going to happen unless the county pays for it (well over a million) But like I said the roundabout would be free if we ask for it and show them we want it. I did not understand or care about roundabouts but since using the new ones in the Fox Cities I am very impressed. Roundabouts are the coolest thing. Traffic flows without stopping, the speed is reduced, pedestrians can feel safe crossing and no one dies. I do not understand the idiotic reasons against them as to the snow plow operators that don't know how to plow them or the drivers that say they can not pull out of their driveways because of the non stop traffic flow. Well stick it out there and show them your a driver on the road too. Or they don't like to slow down. They would rather be dead right.
We cannot have a roundabout on a state highway, what are you thinking? A roundabout is for a slow 25-30 mph street, not a highway. Do you realize how many accidents are reported on roundabouts? All the DOT needs to do is slow the speed to 45, and install flashing yellow and red lights at the intersection. Perhaps there should be flashing lights at the intersection of Lawson Drive, too. The problem is not the intersection, the problem is the drivers.
Agreed. I have both spoken with and written to the DOT about a continuous 45 mph speed limit on that stretch. The DOT is THE most unresponsive agency. There also needs to be signage when traveling west about upcoming turnoffs: Heritage Village, Christianos, GL, ABA, so that drivers know they must be very alert. And everybody needs to slow down and get off the d**n phone.
I can't believe that the DOT wants to close North Lawson Drive at 23! Simply because of the angle of the intersection? There are few accidents (none that I know of) on the intersection of Lawson and 23. The DOT should keep it open, install flashing lights and then leave us alone. If it ain't broken, then don't fix it! And to think they are talking of putting a new entrance to the city at the top of the hill, which would be far more dangerous. Let's use some common sense for once.
My son and daughter-in-law were hit while driving on a round-about this year. Just for the record, there are many such occurrences at roundabouts. They do work out okay on a street with low traffic, but not on busy streets.
Old people should be road tested every year after a certain age. My 80 year old friend just had her license renewed for 8 years! Not only are they a danger to themselves, but to others. This accident could have turned out even worse. This happened right when school was getting out. What a chilling thought.
You don't know that it was their fault.
The DOT knows the facts about roundabouts and you DO NOT KNOW the facts. Accidents in roundabouts are only minor and are usually because of driver aggressive behavior. Rounabouts are on many state highways. Route 23 goes through many small towns at reduced speeds-Ripon-Princeton-Rosendale-Montello. What's the difference if you go through a roundabout in Green Lake. Besides a roundabout gives the driver an option to go straight, turn into town or even turn around safely. It also covers walkers and bike riders to cross safely. Why do you think the state is putting in dozens all over Wisconsin. The move is toward calming traffic instead of boosting lanes and speed. Notice on the repaved section of 23 from North west to T. More turning lanes for right and left and they took those long right side lanes along ABA and turned them into curb lanes because too many speeding drivers were using those for illegal passing on right. Remember you may not use those truck lanes for passing drivers that are observing the speed limit.
But their is a LOT of driver aggressive behavior, and I'm reading in the Oshkosh paper that pedestrians are having a terrible time of it with these roundabouts.
I like the idea of 45 MPH all the way to the ABA. If you've ever had to turn across highway there in the summer you know how fast the traffic is moving, on both sides of you. I don't know what can be done at North Lawson, I avoid that intersection if I can. I also wish the DOT would consider left turn arrows at the lights on 49&23, it's only a matter of time before there is a serious accident there.
The problem with 23 from ripon to probably county T, maybe even all the way to Princeton, is it is very heavily travelled by local traffic. Generally slow moving, sometimes flat out lazy drivers, not paying attention to what they are going because they have driven the same route 50 billion times. Lots of driveways, businesses, and roads in a very short stretch of highway makes it dangerous.
I'm just hoping that the DOT does enough upgrades and restructuring to make the thing safe. As it is, 23 is a pretty dangerous section of road between ripon and princeton. I don't know if they realize that they really have an urban highway in a rural setting.
Much of 23 is a de facto 45mph limit as it is. I'd say its a 50/50 chance of actually hitting the speed limit on any given day at peak traffic times. A 45mph limit from where it exists now all the way past A is just going to cause more problems with aggressive drivers.
The only way to fix the intersection at cty A, is to eliminate the curve from the west. The sight lines there are what cause the accidents. They suck. I know I always look three times before crossing there and still dont feel completely comfortable crossing. How the DOT would go about eliminating the curve I have no idea. A bridge there is never going to happen. A roundabout in the middle of nowhere seems pretty unlikely too.
It would be far less expensive and more effective to simply install stop lights at the corner than to re-work the curve. The curve is NOT the problem! I cross that intersection daily and can see very far in either direction if a vehicle is coming or not.
Impatient drivers, bad (inattentive) drivers, elderly drivers, drunk drivers, these are the reasons for accidents.
codiene fioricetfioricet detox
The business would pay complex institutions, different as the augusto c. uk city districts not rising on institutions.
Without a doubt, it is the rude, in-a-hurry drivers and truck drivers who go at least 65-80 miles an hour on 23 who cause more than 95% of the problem. If the City police or Sheriff's deputies would monitor the speed there and arrest the offenders, it would help pay for much of the Court House!
Here's a great idea: close all entrances to Green Lake. Nobody comes in, nobody goes out. Like Willy Wonka's chocolate factory.
May God comfort and bless the Farrell family in this time of trial. Our thoughts and prayers are with you!
Slightly unrelated topic: WE NEED DEER CONTROL IN THE CITY! They are everywhere it seems.
God forbid anyone shoots bambi, they are so pretty! Hmm, so were my flowers and shrubs before the deer ate them. The ones literally right next to my house.
I agree, they are doing a lot of damage to our trees and shrubs, too. We have lived here for years and never had this type of deer damage. My neighbor nearly hit a deer yesterday morning on his way to work, right here in the city. HELLO, city officials, please do something!
It is unfortunate the city fathers did not keep some of the wooded areas near town for the deer to stay. Where else can they go when none of their places are left??????
Some preserve/conservation area was needed to be set aside before they were displaced. This is Wisconsin!
I don't care of your age, driving record, or anything else, that is a dangerous intersection. I live near there and use that intersection daily as well. There is poor visibility due to the landscape around. I disagree with the comment saying it's the drivers. I do agree that a roundabout on a highway, seems like more of an accident going from 55 (if you are going east) to 25 and then back up to 45. I would agree with the 45 mph from the stop light through the intersection of T going west.
I use this intersection daily, and I can see plenty far in either direction on 23. Maybe some people are impatient or distracted, but I am always careful, as everyone should be when crossing a state highway. To think that thousands of cars can cross that intersection safely, but two or three drunk or elderly people cannot, should make this discussion quite obvious. Drunk people and the elderly should not be driving on any road or street. I don't mean ALL elderly, but in fact they should all be tested annually in order to keep their driving PRIVILEGE. The vast majority of drivers do not have a problem crossing the road.
I use this intersection daily, and I can see plenty far in either direction on 23. Maybe some people are impatient or distracted, but I am always careful, as everyone should be when crossing a state highway. To think that thousands of cars can cross that intersection safely, but two or three drunk or elderly people cannot, should make this discussion quite obvious. Drunk people and the elderly should not be driving on any road or street. I don't mean ALL elderly, but in fact they should all be tested annually in order to keep their driving PRIVILEGE. The vast majority of drivers do not have a problem crossing the road.
On Monday at 7:00 the 29th, there will be a special School Board meeting due to running out of time last week to consider raises for our administrator and non-union staff. PLEASE NOTE that in many much larger school districts than ours,(Fond du Lac as an example) their administrators who do not get nearly what we pay Bates - have agreed to freeze their salaries to cut costs. (Check the websites - counted 15 freezing their salaries in less than 30 minutes last week) Bates makes much more than many administrators of MUCH larger school districts. Send a message to OUR School Board - NO salary increase for the administrators. Referendum in April will be decided on the basis there is CLEAR EVIDENCE of more budget cuts - NOT affecting students - by the Administration and School Board. If Bates gets his way, we will be even more in debt by spending money on IB and Charter - PLUS giving him a big raise. So consequently just might lose our school just because they won't listen to some of us PARENTS who want our children to get a good BASIC education - instead of giving an already administrator a raise plus he is USING our taxes for his salary which ironically helps him pursue his PhD on IB schools. Write our school board members. We do not want to lose our school due to mismanagement of money to aid an already wealthy administrator.
Happy Thanksgiving! I hope we can resolve the school's financial problems. I am thankful for such a wonderful school in our beautiful area.
Post a Comment