September 2004

Proposed Highway Safety Improvement Meeting

About 115 people packed the Elkhart Lake High School auditorium Thursday to voice their concerns about a proposed $614,000 project to improve county Highways P and A around the village, which were used as part of a race course in the 1950s.

The road was used in the Elkhart Lake road race circuits before Road America opened in 1955, according to Mead & Hunt of Madison, a consultant to the county.

Many in attendance were opposed to the project.

“If you look at this reconstruction of county Road A, it’s comparable to tearing down the Old Wade House,” said Spencer Chapple of Elkhart Lake.

“There are numerous more county roads that are more heavily traveled and would benefit more by these proposed improvements,” said Holly Kemmis of Sheboygan.

The county is considering widening two miles of the road between county Highways C and J, Mead & Hunt said in a handout. The project would be 80 percent federally funded.

The existing pavement is 21 to 22 feet wide with 1- to 2-foot-wide shoulders, Mead & Hunt said. The proposal calls for widening the road to 24 feet with 6-foot-wide shoulders.

Attorney William TeWinkle of the Town of Rhine urged people opposing the improvements to contact his law firm, Rohde Dales in Sheboygan, to make sure their viewpoints are recognized, in court if needed.

“You can do us all a big favor and spend the money someplace else,” Te Winkle said.

There were some, like Allen Raeder of Glenbeulah, who supported the proposed road improvements.

“Safety is a big thing,” Raeder said. “When it comes to safety versus historical value, safety needs to come first.”

County Board Supervisor Harold Laack, who’s also on the county’s Transportation Committee, said the roads involved in the proposed project are not a part of the original racecourse.

“I was one of the few who viewed the first race here at Elkhart Lake back in 1950,” said Laack of Plymouth. “The original course was P and JP. It was a short course.”

Further public comments should be sent to Amy Squitieri, Mead & Hunt, 6501 Watts Road, Madison WI 53719 or by e-mail at . Sept. 17 is the deadline for comments on the project.

For more information, call county Highway Commissioner Roger Laning at 459-3822 or Squitieri at (608) 273-6380. Information also is available on the Road America Web site.  Te Winkle can be reached at 458-5501 and

Reprinted from the September 9, 2004 issue of Sheboygan Press