I don’t subscribe to social media, but this week a resident informed me that someone has been bashing our decision to have the Wood County Highway Department salt Lake Road from CTH U to 100th Street. Really? Has this person ever driven this stretch in the wintertime? Several years ago, two teenagers from the Town slid onto CTH U from Lake, totaling their car and sustaining injuries. Safeway contacted us most winters due to the icy conditions especially where trees shade the portion west of 100th Street. A couple years ago one of the bus drivers nearly skidded into a child. Frightening.
Our responsibility as board members is to protect our residents’ “health, safety and welfare”. By more effectively removing the ice and snow from this section of road we hope to secure the safety of more than 600 vehicles and their occupants per day (Lake Road is the most heavily trafficked road in the Town).
We do not retain salt on site as we would need a WisDOT approved storage building, better plow equipment, and would need to switch methodology on surfaced versus unsurfaced roads. It is much more cost-effective to contract this 2-mile road section to Wood County. Their plow operators already salt portions of CTH U during their regular schedule and simply need to turn onto Lake Road to help us.
I hope whoever is making these comments can understand that protecting the lives of our residents is an imperative. I do and I am thankful that my other board members join me in that endeavor. It’s our job.
Stay warm and “Go Pack Go”, Sharon