DOT ideas for transportation could all involve road building

Public meetings taking place
tonight, Thursday on road expansion

When some people attend Wisconsin DOT public involvement meetings this week, they may not like what they hear. 

The agency now is down to a half dozen options for improving traffic in the La Crosse area as identified in the ongoing Coulee Region Transportation study – all of the options involve road building of some sort. 

But that has to be part of the final solution, says the DOT’s Andy Winga, considering the number of cars that will be on the street, eventually.

There could be a lot, he says, with population in the area estimated to grow by around 30,000 in the 30 years.

The options for road expansion include plans for expanding Highway 16 to routing some traffic the length of French Island and then across a bridge over the Black River to the former Mobil Oil site.

There will be two public involvement meetings this week, the last scheduled in the study process.

The first one is tonight at Onalaska High School. The second, Thursday at La Crosse Central High School. Both meetings are scheduled for 5-7 p.m.