News » Local News

Four US 53 Intersections in Line for Improvement in Wisconsin

By KBJR News 1
December 13, 2011 Updated Dec 13, 2011 at 10:55 PM CDT

HAWTHORNE, WI (Northland's NewsCenter) - From Solon Springs to edge of Superior, four different intersections along US 53 could see improvements to make them safer.

Those improvements include possible changes to the controversial "J-Turn" intersection near Hawthorne, but it will be awhile before they happen.

Residents got a chance to hear about specific improvement options.

WisDOT had a meeting tonight in Hawthorne to talk about alternative options for each of the four intersections.

Those four intersections are all located between Solon Springs and Superior and include the County L intersection, the County B intersection, (where the J-Turns are), the US 2 interchange and the Moccasin Mike Road intersection on the edge of Superior.

Each intersection has six to eight alternative options, which include changes such as closing or relocating local roads near those intersections, property-use, and overpasses.

The WisDOT project manager says while the County B intersection has had crashes, there were other reasons for improvements elsewhere.

"Some of the other intersections are not currently having a crash problem, but we're looking at, as volumes increase, that chance increases so we're looking at trying to be proactive," said Marc Bowker, a WisDOT project manager.

Bowker says studies of the intersections and the possible plans are ongoing so a preferred plan for improvement won't be establish until the end of 2013.

There will be more public meetings over coming months and years before any changes are made to any of the intersections.

The J-turn intersection outside of Hawthorne was controversial when it first opened to traffic because it only allows right hand turns onto the highway.

I asked the project manager about that tonight and he said some people still don't like it, while others do, so it has mixed reviews.
He says he has gotten some questions about signage, but the J-turns seem to be working.

The J-Turns are an interim fix until the long range plans are completed and then improvements will be made if they are necessary.

Posted to Web by Jena Pike
jpike@northlandsnewscenter.com

To submit a comment on this article, your email address is required. We respect your privacy and your email will not be visible to others nor will it be added to any email lists.