For Immediate Release:

Group Says it Has New Plan For Military Road

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 3/17/07

Three Lakes, WI, March 17 – Following a town meeting that drew nearly 100 people to discuss the controversial redevelopment plans for Military Road, members of the Partnership to Preserve Military Road say they have a plan that will meet everyone’s needs. The group of concerned citizens, which is seeking to preserve the trees along the road, intends to meet with road engineers and town board members to present a plan to fix the road’s drainage issues while sparing the historic old growth trees that line the road.

“We can repave the road, improve drainage, save money and make the road safer without cutting down thousands of trees,” says Three Lakes citizen Leah Moss. “There is a win-win situation to be found here and we’re confident this controversy can be solved in a way that will make everyone happy.”

Wednesday’s town meeting, hosted by road design firm MSA, the Forest Service and the Three Lakes Town Board, pulled in permanent and seasonal residents from as far as 150 miles away to ask questions, voice concerns and learn more about the project. The engineer for the project, Jim Bollman, repeatedly referred to standing water on the road as being a prime concern. Town Board members said the project would save taxpayer money. Yet, some people walked away with even more reservations about the current plans.

Chris Bean, a property owner along Military Road with a science and engineering background said, “As it’s currently written, this plan will waste taxpayer money because different portions of the road will need repairs at different times. It costs a lot just to get the roadwork equipment out there in the first place. If we repaved the entire road in the right way we could improve drainage and save money at the same time.”

Town Board members also repeatedly cited safety as a reason for reconstructing portions of the road, but police records show only three non-alcohol and drug related accidents on Military Rd. in the past twenty years. The group argues there are better ways of improving safety along the road anyway, including posting speed limits and warning signs along the road.

The group’s website (http://savelakesuperiortrail.blogspot.com) cites peer reviewed studies based
on government data that show widening and straightening roadways may actually lead to more accidents because people naturally drive faster on the improved roads. The group presented these reports to MSA at Wednesday’s meeting.

It remains to be seen if the town and engineers will consider the new plan since some have called it a “done deal” despite Wednesday’s assurance by the Forest Service that plans were only “preliminary.”

“We’d like to believe that MSA and the town are working in good faith and would like to reflect our concerns in the road plan,” said Partnership member Evan Cestari.

MSA is taking public comments on the plan through the end of the month.