Town of Unity residents voice concerns over town road closures

By Neal Hogden

At a regular board meeting of the town of Unity on Monday, Feb. 12, residents of the township voiced their concerns about railroad crossings and the closure of Sandhill Ave. near Capital Road.

On the agenda, were the approval of four resolutions that would have closed four roads within the township. During the public comment section of the meeting, residents told the board that the majority of the residents within the township did not think closing the roads was a good idea.

Reasons given by crowd members against the road closure were:

Wealth

Management

■ ■ The road is used for largely agricultural traffic, part of which will be rerouted through Riplinger or other areas, making those areas more dangerous.

■ ■ Residents wanted to meet with members of the Wisconsin DOT and Office of the Commissioner of Railroads so they could explain exactly why the township was going to be losing their road.

■ ■ Emergency services would need to take alternate routes to respond to emergencies, potentially adding to the response time.

History

According to official documents, the issue goes back to 2013 when the Commissioner of Railroads opened an investigation into the adequacy of warning devices at railroad crossings on four different roads in the town of Unity.

On July 14, 2023, the Commissioner expanded the investigation to include three other crossings. After inspecting all the intersections, the Office of the Commissioner of Railroads (OCR) found several safety and non-compliance items at the Sandhill Ave. and Badger Ave. crossings. According to official documents, the OCR sent the town a letter on October 18, 2023 outlining the safety and non-compliance issues.

See TOWN OF UNITY/ Page 12

A SAFETY ISSUE - The intersection of the Wisconsin Central Ltd. railway and Sandhill Ave. was closed by the town of Unity. Members of the township voiced their displeasure about the closure citing a safety issue in the case of emergencies and alternate traffic routes. Two fatalities have occurred at the intersection since 1973.

STAFF PHOTO/NEAL HOGDEN Town of Unity

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The OCR identified issues with inadequate signage at the two identified crossings, issues with line of sight for motorists and other issues. In its investigation, the OCR showed that Canadian National runs 30 trains per day through the township with trains traveling at a maximum of 60 mph.

In the investigation, the investigator noted that at Sandhill Ave., the crossing is especially dangerous.

“Assuming a train speed of 60 mph, a driver traveling at 55 mph needs to see a train when it is 646 feet from the crossing from a point of 515 feet down the highway,” the report states. “The corner sight distance available in each quadrant from the safe stopping distance is as follows: 0 feet in the northwest quadrant, 250 feet in the northeast quadrant, 404 feet in the southwest quadrant and 493 feet in the southeast quadrant. The corner sight distance is inadequate in all quadrants.”

Three train-vehicle accidents have occurred at this crossing alone since 1973 resulting in two fatalities, according to the OCR. One train-vehicle accident has occurred resulting in one fatality at the Badger Ave. intersection since 1973.

The investigator contacted the town of Unity by phone and in writing on October 18, 2023 according to the document, to advise the town of the safety issues and discuss corrective action at each of the crossings. During that correspondence, the investigator recommended closing Sandhill Ave. to traffic while the town moved forward with vacating the roadway at the railroad crossing. The report states an alternate option was presented. “Alternatively, the township could clear trees and brush as required by Wis. Stat. 195.29(6),” the report said.

The report said the investigator provided 14 days for the township to take action. The report said that as of November 3, 2023, the town had done no work to remediate the safety concerns or take action to discontinue the roadway.

At that point, the OCR ordered the town of Unity to clear brush and trim trees within its highway right-of-way for 330 feet down the highway in each direction from the Sandhill Ave. crossing.

Heather Graves of the OCR said the township was required to provide photographic evidence of the completed safety measures to the OCR by December 1, 2023. As a part of the order, the township was ordered to replace or relocate additional railroad warning signs near the SandhillAve. crossing.

Graves said the township did not respond to the order. However, on December 7, 2023, the town clerk contacted the OCR by phone and indicated that the township voluntarily placed barricades at the Sandhill Ave. crossing rather than removing trees on township property and township road right of ways.

Graves said the OCR understood the township to be pursuing a discontinuance of the public road at SandhillAve.

“The [OCR] understands that the township was moving forward with the voluntary discontinuance of public way near the Sandhill Ave crossing under Wis. Stat. § 66.1003,” Graves said. “However, the discontinuance of public way process does not involve the [OCR] with the exception that the township is required to deliver a copy of the petition or resolution to the [OCR] if there is a railroad highway crossing within the portion of the public way that is the subject of the petition or resolution.”

The Wisconsin DOT got involved as the township needed to go through a WisDOT process to close the road. An attempt by the Tribune-Phonograph to reach a representative from the Wisconsin DOT was not returned as of Feb. 14 at 9 a.m.

During the time that Sandhill Ave. was closed, an EMS call placed to Central Fire and EMS was reportedly delayed because the ambulance took Sandhill Ave. which was closed. The ambulance had to double back, taking extra time to complete the call.

Central Fire and EMS District Battalion Chief John Austin was in attendance and said whatever the board decided to do with closing roads, they needed to communicate with area emergency services.

In an effort to keep the township road open, several members of the crowd and landowners of the land around the intersection volunteered to help clear brush and trees from the Sandhill Ave. intersection. The resolutions were not voted on but instead were tabled until the next meeting.

BEING HEARD - About 75 residents of the town of Unity and Riplinger showed up at the town of Unity board meeting on Monday, Feb. 12. The meeting lasted about an hour and 15 minutes as citizens voiced their concerns about local intersections being closed.

STAFF PHOTO/NEAL HOGDEN