HomeMy WebLinkAbout07-17-2013 Traffic Safety MinutesMINUTES
TRAFFIC SAFETY
July 17, 2013 10:00 AM
Sheriff Office Training Room
1101 Carmichael Road, Hudson, Wisconsin
CALL TO ORDER
ROLL CALL
Attendee Name Title Status Arrived
Tim Ramberg Absent
Brian Hurtgen Absent
William Peavey Present
Eric Johnson Absent
Jeff Klatt Chair Present
Brian Erickson Present
Dennis Johnson Present
Greg Helgeson Present
Matt Melby Absent
Kristen Sailer Present
Jeff Frenette Absent
Jason Sell Absent
Amber Hahn, Assistant District Attorney appeared on behalf of Eric Johnson; Andrea
Loeffelholz, with the University of Wisconsin Transportation Information Center was also
present.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
1.April 17, 2013 10:00 AM
RESULT:ACCEPTED
PUBLIC COMMENT*
No Public Comment.
Miscellaneous Business:
Dennis Johnson informed the committee that the State of Wisconsin has had 249 fatalities as of
July 17, 2013. The 5-Year Average as of Sunday, July 14, 2013 is 275.
Dennis gave a brief synopsis of the attachments that were included in the Agenda Packet, in
reference to:
July: State law protects children by requiring proper safety restraints in vehicles
August: Intersection crashes can be prevented by obeying traffic signals
September: Drivers must be even more vigilant when the school year starts
Dennis then reminded the committee that if anyone has any suggestions/ideas for the Highway
Safety Plan, they can submit them to him and he will forward them to Madison.
Chair Klatt informed he committee that St. Croix County has had 7 fatalities thus far in 2013.
Dennis Johnson and Sergeant Erickson advised that the fatality that took place on May 8, 2013 at
I-94 @ .1 mile west of CTH NN, should be removed from our Fatality Report. It has been
determined that this accident was the result of a medical issue, and the victim died of natural
causes prior to the crash. Therefore, the total fatalities thus far in St. Croix County are now at 6.
Kristen Sailer reported that there are two million dollars available through the State of Wisconsin
for River Bridge Funding. These are mitigation funds that could be used for project funding.
Municipalities are strongly encouraged to apply for these funds. Kristen advised the Ellen
Denzer from Community Development has more information available.
Old Business:
Chair Klatt advised the committee that he has not received a response to his letter that he sent to
the Office of the Commissioner of Railroads on April 23, 2013, regarding the problems with the
railroad crossing arms.
Per request of Chair Klatt, Secretary, Kelli Calleja, updated the committee on the bus stop that
was changed from CTH UU to Carmichael Road. Kelli advised that she spoke with Lori, the
Routing Manager at Safeway Bus Company, on June 27, 2013. Lori advised that the new bus
stop is working out fine, the parents were very cooperative about the change, and there have been
no problems; therefore, the bus driver will continue to pick the children up on Carmichael Road.
BUSINESS ITEMS
1.2013 State Highway Construction Projects
Greg Helgeson asked the committee if they would be willing to endorse a proposal to
install traffic signals at the north ramp intersection at the STH 35/64 interchange @ CTH
C in Somerset. Greg drew a diagram of this intersection to specifically show the
committee where the proposed signal lights would be constructed. He also informed the
committee that if this project gets approved, overhead street lights would also be
installed. He advised that if the committee is in agreement to endorse this project, he will
submit a proposal to hopefully receive federal safety money for this project. Also, if
federal funds are received, this project would be completed sometime during the time
frame of 2015-2017.
Sergeant Erickson made a motion to endorse this proposal; the motion was seconded by
William Peavey. Vote Carried, no negative vote.
Chair Klatt advised that he would draft a letter regarding this endorsement.
2.Extra Stop Arm on School Buses
Chair Klatt informed the committee that he had received an e-mail from Lishunda
Patterson, Secretary of the Wisconsin Highway Coordinator's Association (WHSCA),
regarding a request for support in getting an extra stop arm put on school buses.
The e-mail read as follows:
"At the Marquette Co TSC, a suggestion was made to push for the addition of a second
"stop arm" near the rear of a school bus, which would increase the likelihood that drivers
approaching from the rear would notice said bus.
This would involve changing state law of course, and they are looking for support from
other TSC's in the form of a letter to their local legislators in support of such a change."
There was a discussion among our committee members. Chair Klatt advised that he
would prefer to see more statistics before endorsing this idea. Sergeant Erickson asked if
other states have done this and if there is some historical data available.
The committee members decided that they are not real interested in pursuing this
endorsement at this time.
ANNOUNCEMENTS & CORRESPONDENCE
ADJOURN
Meeting adjourned at 10:44 AM.
DATE OF NEXT MEETING
October 16, 2013