[Reprinted from the September 18, 1997 The Capital Times.]
By Bill Dunn
Middleton Walter Kulash does not approve of building a U.S. 12 bypass in Middleton any more than he approves of improving the road to four lanes north to Sauk City.
Kulash, a Florida traffic engineer, addressed the Safe Two Lane Highway 12 Now Coalition on Tuesday.
The coalition invited Kulash to the meeting, which was attended by about 20 people, to counter city officials' claims the existing road can't handle projected future traffic.
On Sept. 25, the Regional Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on the proposed-bypass and the feasibility of improving the existing road to either two or four lanes. State officials favor a four-lane improvement.
Kulash cannot attend the RPC hearing but his presentation Tuesday was videotaped for the commission.
He called bypasses "a failed way of dealing with traffic."
The most serious impact, Kulash said, is the development that would occur along the $20 million bypass.
Kulash quoted urban planner Andres Duany: "We have the congestion of a metropolis with the culture of a cow pasture."
With some improvements, U.S. 12 through Middleton can safely handle much more traffic than the 25,000 to 30,000 vehicles per day projected for the long term, Kulash said. "I would maintain very strongly we have not looked at a full range of options."
The coalition's goal is to make the road "as safe as possible as quickly as possible without suburban sprawl," said Kathryn Wolf, chapter president.
Kulash proposed replacing the continuous left-turn lane with a center median. Access to businesses would be through median cuts at mid-block and the end of blocks.
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