DOT presents five options to realign Hwy. 35 intersection

0 Comments | La Crosse Tribune, Nov 14, 2002 | by Erickson, Randy

ONALASKA, Wis. - Help is on the way for one of Onalaska's worst intersections. But for some businesses, the cure might be worse than the problem.

At a meeting Wednesday at City Hall, traffic engineers and state Department of Transportation officials presented five options for improving the Hwy. 35/Oak Forest Drive intersection near Onalaska's library and high school.

Traffic often gets snarled at that corner because there's barely room to line up half a dozen cars on Oak Forest Drive between Hwy. 35 and Oak Avenue. The intersection also is tricky because drivers coming off Hwy. 35 onto Oak Forest Drive don't have to stop at Oak Avenue, while traffic from the other three directions have stop signs.

The DOT and traffic engineers with Madison-based KL Engineering have studied redesigning the intersection and at Wednesday's meeting sought public comment on five alternatives. The public input will help determine the option picked for construction in 2005.

Roughly two dozen people turned out for the City Hall presentation, but more might have come later in the evening.

Alternative 5 would eliminate the intersection entirely, creating a new Hwy. 35 intersection about a block north at Wilson Street, which would be realigned slightly to the south, cutting the corner of the library property.

Two homes and an auto repair business would be lost under this option to make way for Wilson Street. But business owners worried that the elimination of the Oak Forest Drive intersection could significantly hurt their businesses, too.

"Five would kill us," said Connie Kinne. She and her husband, Harold, have owned the Dairy Queen for 11 years and fear the result of only drivers on southbound Hwy. 35 could zip in for a Blizzard or a Dilly Bar.

Traffic engineers, however, said they favor Alternative 5 because the greater distance on Wilson Street between Hwy. 35 and Third Avenue offers the most space to stack cars waiting to turn onto the highway. That would eliminate congestion and reduce accidents.

"From a pure engineering standpoint, from a level of service standpoint, Alternative 5 works the best," said Mike Bakalars, a traffic engineer with KL Engineering.

The other options would involve realigning the intersection of Oak Forest Drive and Hilltopper Drive, the access to the high school, and adding a second left-turn lane at westbound Oak Forest Drive and Hwy. 35.

Alternative 1 would create a dead end of Oak Avenue south of Oak Forest Drive - at Happy Joe's pizza restaurant - and create a new road linking Oak Avenue and Oak Forest Drive about 100 feet south of the bike trail parking lot. It also would push Wilson Street through to Hwy. 35, adding another access point to take pressure off Oak Forest Drive.

Alternative 2 would move the intersection of Oak Avenue and Oak Forest Drive about 250 feet cast by curving Oak Avenue to meet Hilltopper Drive, with traffic controlled by a four-way stop. The rerouted Oak Avenue would run right through the spot where the Onalaska Center for Commerce and Tourism now stands. This option also would include extension of Wilson Street.

Alternatives 3 and 4 are the same as 1 and 2, respectively, without the Wilson Street extension.

Options 2 and 5 both would cost an estimated $1.68 million. Alternative 1 would cost $1.55 million, Alternative 3 would cost $900,000 and Alternative 4 would cost $1.02 million.

The state and federal government would pay for 80 percent of the construction costs and 75 percent of the design and real estate costs, with the city picking up the rest, said Rick Vydrzal, transportation department planning program engineer.

Jason Gilman, Onalaska's land use/development director, said he favors Alternative 4, even though the tourism center would have to be moved. It also would be less expensive than Alternative 5.

The DOT is taking comment on the alternatives through Nov. 27. Comment forms and drawings of the designs are available at City Hall.