FOX 11 Investigates uncovers roadblock to Brown Co. traffic relief plan

FOX 11 News ^ | November 16, 2017 | Mark Leland, FOX 11 Investigates

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

BROWN COUNTY (WLUK) -- If you experience stop-and-go traffic heading to work or backups on your way home, you’re not the only one frustrated. Every community experiences traffic delays. Transportation planners design new roads to ease the congestion.

But FOX 11 Investigates found that in Brown County, those planning the roads are frustrated too. Ads by ZINC

Highway 172 in Brown County carries a heavy load of cars and trucks. During peak traffic hours, motorists are trying to cross the Fox River. A little over two miles to the south, the Claude Allouez Bridge in De Pere can be even worse.

The solution -- and most every community surrounding the area agrees -- is to build another bridge in the southern part of the county.

“We have part of our region in Brown County that is suffering due to not having that southern bridge,” said Brown County Executive Troy Streckenbach.

Streckenbach is leading charge for a new bridge to be paid for by federal and state dollars. A bridge in that area meets all the criteria to get funding.

“Congestion, safety and economic development: We think we have all three of those,” said Streckenbach, explaining the three criteria.

If you think you’ve heard talk of this southern bridge idea before you’re right. The idea was first proposed back in 1968. It didn’t get real traction, though, until 1996.

“In 1996, our comprehensive plan’s stated goal was to build the bridge by 2020,” said Brown County principal planner Cole Runge.

As it turns out, 1996 was the same year Runge started working for Brown County’s planning department.

“It’s been on the front of my plate for quite some time,” Runge said of the southern bridge project.

[moovova]

Or, it could have something to do with the road construction crews that set up orange cones/flagmen, and begin work at 4:30 pm.

[bert]

A southern bridge is a racist monument and must never be allowed. Such racist monuments are a travesty

[jobim]

Are you familiar with this area?

My family had a cottage up there from the 1940s to the 1990s. Recently, the entire
westside corridor was dotted with roundabouts, and what had been so familiar had
become alien, like a Twilight Zone episode. It is unreal the havoc caused by somebody's
idea of "progress."

[gnarledmaw]

As if Green Bay drivers werent bad enough, they had to go and add those things. Everyone agrees that theyre bad, the vast majority dont like them because almost everyone has made up their own rules on how to use them. Ive driven all over the US and several other countries and Ive never seen anything like this. There really should be insurance legislation passed that says that in any situation that includes a driver from Green Bay, the Green Bay driver should be assumed to be at fault. The bizarre degree of negligence and erratic habits almost demand it.

[jobim]

I hadn't been to the area for about 5 years, when I went up to Our Lady of Good Help
Shrine over near the foot of Door County. It was like entering a whole new world, as I
stayed at a Motel 6 on the west side of GB.

How did this come about? Were there raucous public meetings?
Who were the folks that pushed it?

[shotgun]

Got to love government transportation planning. I’ve stated on this forum a number of times my in depth experience with this issue and the federal mandate that all state and local agencies comply. When projects are identified and presented to the elected officials they are almost always met with enthusiasm but little else. These projects never get any cheaper to build over time, however the thought process is always the same: We’ll get a grant and it won’t cost us a dime in local funds.

When any of you Freepers go to your local city or county meetings call BS on this. It will be cheaper in long run to get a local bond than to wait 20+ plus years for the shot at a grant. Yes, bonds will raise your taxes but if these projects do what is claimed then it should be worth it.

Please don’t think I’m advocating for tax and spend. The other big part of this equation is budget priority and spending controls.

[gnarledmaw]

Theres more to this story, I admit I dont know the whole of it pst or present. I do remember in the 80s when it was "a done deal" and some sort of arrangement was being made for the property on Scheuring then at the last minute it fell through. Not naming names but there was somebody else at the time who was causing problems because they wanted the project to go through on land they were connected to.

What I was surprised about is that they resurrected this issue and seemed to try to use it to go after Lasee. Pretty desperate way to try to dislodge a conservative with such solid support.

I assume because of his connections hes aware of whatever the present day subterfuge is and also with Lasees background with real estate and all the property/zoning legislation hes involved in, Im sure he is aware of something else afoot that isnt obvious to the rest of us. I think the $20 mil proposal he is supporting vs the $100 mil arguement is just the reason put forth for public consumption and there is more to this. It nonetheless is a valid argument given all the foolishness that occurred regarding the bridge in De Pere.

[gnarledmaw]

My rundown excuse for a farm is a few minutes ENE of the shrine. Next time you head up you should ping me and we can meet somewhere/do something.

As far as Ive been able to tell, the only thing all these roundabouts are good for is shifting the operating cost of the intersection from government, across the taxpayers back, to that individuals motor insurance carrier.

Transportation issues have never really been in my bailiwick and during several of those years most important as it all relates to this area I was extremely ill and busy trying not to die while still providing for family. I have very few clear memories from that time.

I can only offer the following quasi-truths of third hand hearsay as they were recorded by an ill persons mind and retrieved through the filter of time in the hope that it spurs a memory in another who may then reply in answer to your questions.

Firstly, I think it important to note that, as you may remember, during the Clinton years, there was some push by UN/US left to install "traffic calming" devices on roads. Those openly spoken of included giant speed bumps, ridiculously sqiggley roads, and roundabouts. Those efforts here were thoroughly shouted down with only one short length of squiggle successfully installed where Ashwaubebon transitions to De Pere. (That leads to a whole UN conspiracy rabbit hole I havent been down in a long time.) The hwy 41 improvement scam started a couple of decades ago on the South end had gotten to the Green Bay area about the time that Broke Ourbanka began promising his shovel ready nonsense and roundabout funding was supposed to be part of that. Whether some sort federal bridge money and therefore federal exit requirements were "stringed" to it or if it was some Gaia saving con-artist engineering for the state, I dont know. I dont remember any input being allowed on those (Mason and 41).

At this same time communists seeking contracts for their road crews tried to put roundabouts in at the intersections on the first busy parallel road to the East of the highway at Mason and Military and at Shawano and Military. There was a lot of anger regarding those two and those were dropped and instead we put in a more traditional light contolled type intersection but added false lanes and make cars stop a couple of truck lengths back to mess with a drivers perception of where the lanes and cross traffic are actually travelling. This guarantees more accidents which of course is what we should always build for. To improve the intersection futher, we have installed pedestrian traps by randomizing the distance of the crosswalk to the inersection but always placing them far back into the braking area we have all been trained to use.

There is one at Taylor and Shawano that was fought bitterly but was installed anyway. Who all the local GB clowns were I dont remember. I was trying to pay attention to my own batch of idiots 30 miles away.

Side note. Ashwaubenon was afraid to be outdone and has a concentration of drug addled feminist types erraticly driving around the high school area which is placed between 2 of the 3 busy streets in Ashwaubenon. They came up with new lightposts and mismatched the lights to the lanes. Im not sure how this was supposed to help. At intersections the two straight lights are mounted to the area ahead of the right lane. The turn light is mounted over the left lane and no light is over nor in the intersection for the turn lane. The danger here is that no other lights in the area are like this. What happens is the person in the left lane stops at the light and checks their gauges or adjusts the radio and peripherally sees the light above them go green so as they turn forward they pull out right into turning traffic. Clever way to get a few out of the gene pool, no?

[jobim]

Thank you very much for the yeoman reply about a sad subject. I want to chat more but need to get to the abortion mill for my afternoon stand. Will write later.