Anyone catch today's Wisc State Journal? My cynical side - which seems to wake up before the rest of me - says this is a scare tactic because so many people complained about the Verona Rd/Beltline expansion. Interesting how fast and sharp the criticism was from folks in that part of Dane County. When the highway is rolling through their backyard it's a bad idea. When they are driving into Madison on it it's a good idea.
On the other hand, there probably are plenty of people who really want another huge ribbon of ashpalt through otherwise pretty and productive land. Read all about it here: http://www.madison.com/wisconsinstatejournal/local/35220.php State DOT proposes bypass south of city 10:06 PM 10/29/02 Marv Balousek Wisconsin State Journal A state proposal to build a bypass south of Madison to relieve Beltline congestion is already drawing fire from local officials. The proposal would connect Highway 151 in Verona with Interstate 90 east of McFarland, traveling north of Highway M through Fitchburg and north of Oregon to Highway B in the town of Dunn, then north of Lake Kegonsa to the interstate. Dunn Town Chairman Ed Minihan said there is "absolutely no way" he would support such a proposal. "It doesn't make any sense," he said. "It would have a major impact on a number of our farmers, certainly in Fitchburg, too." [Advertisement] Minihan said the highway also would mean another bridge across the Yahara River and would disturb the Door Creek wetlands. A public hearing on the bypass proposal is scheduled Nov. 12. State Department of Transportation spokeswoman Sandra Spann said consultants and engineers also will meet tonight with town of Dunn officials. "The basic idea is to take Beltline traffic off (the Beltline)," Spann said. "It came out of hearings for the Verona Road interchange." The state has held hearings on ways to ease traffic congestion at the Verona Road-Beltline interchange and, Spann said, the DOT decided to research the south bypass idea because of the number of people who asked about a reliever highway. Fitchburg Mayor Mark Vivian said he believes it would have a minimal effect on traffic congestion and would hurt prime farmland. "This will take 30 years of land-use planning and really disrupt that process," he said. Brett Hulsey of the Sierra Club predicted that new traffic would fill the proposed highway nearly to capacity within five years. "Bigger highways solve traffic problems the same way bigger pants solve weight problems," he said. "In Wisconsin, highways are the No. 1 destroyer of farmland and wetlands." Spann said she didn't have details about the highway's width, how many access points it would have, when it might be built or how much it would cost. The proposal is similar to a 1972 plan for an "outer Beltline" to begin at highways 12 and KP in the town of Roxbury, go south to Verona and turn eastward to Stoughton and on to Cambridge. That idea died after it was condemned by many local officials. "Never doubt that a small group of dedicated individuals working together can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." -- Margaret Mead _______________________________________________ Bikies mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.danenet.org/mailman/listinfo/bikies
