By LeAnn R. Ralph
KNAPP — Residents in the Town of Stanton are concerned about the detour the Wisconsin Department of Transportation has planned for replacing the Wilson Creek bridge on U.S. Highway 12.
WisDOT held a public informational meeting about the bridge project at the Knapp village hall April 23.
The bridge, located on Highway 12 about a half mile west of county Highway Q, could be replaced as early as 2020 or as late as 2024, said Tyler Rongstad with WisDOT North West Region out of Eau Claire.
The bridge will be constructed while traffic is detoured on a route that is 14 miles long and will use state Highway 128, Interstate 94 and state Highway 25.
The detour is of concern to local residents and officials with the Town of Stanton.
The township plans to put road bans on town roads to keep semi-truck traffic off the town roads, said Kevin Finder, town patrolman.
Finder also is concerned about moving farm equipment from one side of Knapp to the other with the Wilson Creek bridge out.
Replacing the bridge is expected to take 50 to 55 working days, and there are no plans for doing half of the bridge at a time or using a by-pass with a temporary bridge, Rongstad said.
Rongstad asked about alternate routes on area roads for farm equipment, but Finder said he was concerned about pulling full loads of hay on the hills around Knapp.
The initial stages of bridge construction could be done when there is snow on the ground, and the project could be finished by June 1, Rongstad said.
It was noted that Wilson Creek is a trout stream.
In that case, construction would have to wait until spawning season had finished, Rongstad said.
In addition to semi-truck traffic doing damage to town roads, there also is concern about the fire department, the ambulance and the sheriff’s department being able to get through without having to go 14 miles around on a detour, said Bob Anderson, chair of the Town of Stanton.
Stanton is in the Boyceville fire district and in the Boyceville ambulance district.
Anderson, who is retired from WisDOT, said the idea of constructing half of the bridge at a time should be reconsidered.
“You needed to talk to people,” Anderson said.
At one point in the meeting, Anderson noted when he had been employed by WisDOT, he had hired Rongstad.
Rongstad said communications sent to the Town of Stanton about the bridge replacement had not received a response. Letters also had been mailed to a variety of people, including the Boyceville fire department and Boyceville ambulance service, that also had not received a response.
Anderson said he was asking WisDot “to go back to the drawing board” for either completing the project half at a time or by using a by-pass.
“We need to get the fire engines and ambulance through … we can’t have property owners without fire or ambulance,” Anderson said.
Completing the bridge project one-half at a time would double the amount of time it would take to build a new bridge, Rongstad noted.
Doing half at a time also would include width restrictions that might not be helpful for farm equipment, although a by-pass would be more expensive than completing half at a time, he said.
Rongstad said he would relay the concerns back to the WisDOT office.
“I would be more than happy to meet with all of you,” Anderson said.
“We’re holding a meeting to get public involvement. I don’t want to make any promises. It’s not my decision,” Rongstad said.
The bridge could be replaced as early as 2020, and if that is the case, WisDOT will know by August, he said.
The year the bridge ends up being built depends upon when the money is available in the state budget.
“In all honesty, I wish I had heard this earlier,” Rongstad said.
If the plans for the Wilson Creek bridge are changed so that no detour is necessary, WisDOT will not hold another public meeting, he said.
A single lane shift in traffic does not have that much of a local impact, Rongstad said.
Anyone wishing to make written comments about the Wilson Creek bridge replacement must submit them before May 10.
You can mail your comments to Tyler Rongstad, P.E.; WisDOT North West Region; 718 W. Clairemont Ave.; Eau Claire WI 54701 or by e-mail to [email protected].
UPDATE: KNAPP — During a public informational meeting at the Knapp village hall April 23 held by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation about the Wilson Creek Bridge project on U.S. Highway 12 to replace the bridge, Tyler Rongstad with WisDOT North West Region out of Eau Claire said communications sent to the Town of Stanton about the bridge replacement had not received a response.
Letters also had been mailed to a variety of people, including the Boyceville fire department and Boyceville ambulance service, that also had not received a response, Rongstad said at the informational meeting and as was reported in an article published in the May 1 edition of the Tribune Press Reporter.
During a telephone call to reporter LeAnn R. Ralph May 10, Rongstad said he had gone back and looked, but WisDOT had not actually mailed out letters to the Boyceville Community Fire Department or the Boyceville Community Ambulance Service.
Rongstad said he wanted to correct the record.
One issue Bob Anderson, chair of the Town of Stanton, had raised at the April 23 meeting was that the proposed detour of state Highway 12 to state Highway 25 to Interstate 94 to state Highway 128 back to Highway 12 would significantly increase response times from the Boyceville fire department and Boyceville ambulance service for residents in the Town of Stanton west of Knapp.
