By Luke Timmerman
The Capital Times
March 5, 1999
On the day when a historic compromise was reached on widening U.S. 12, a weathered wooden sign opposing a fourlane road still stood in the front yard of Carol Ziegler's 120-acre dairy farm west of Middleton.
The sign is 4 years old. It's going to stay there.
| County Board OKs U.S. 12 deal |
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| By Luke Timmerman The Capital Times The County Board had no impact on how U.S. 12 will be built, but it still worked itself into a parliamentary sweat for more than three hours before voting to support the compromise agreement. Sarcastic comments ruled the night, as county supervisors bickered over an outdated legislative priority list. The county's position had been in favor of a two-lane highway, but that was a moot point since the meeting started four hours after federal, state and other local officials announced a deal that ended the long-running dispute with a four-lane agreement. But the fact the issue was settled didn't stop County Board members from trying to indefinitely postpone it, refer it to committee and change its language. "If we're going to vote on the press release, could we at least have a five-minute recess?" Supervisor John Hendrick, Madison, asked the board. He didn't get the recess. A few minutes later, Vice Chair Ruth Ann Schoer asked supervisors, "Is there anyone else who wishes to beat this into the ground further?" Not long before that, Supervisor David Blaska, Madison, said, "Folks, if we don't act now, we're in real danger of making progress." At the end of the debate, supervisors voted 22-11 in favor of the deal agreed to by negotiators earlier in the day. In an unusual coincidence, the board also voted to accept a Department of Transportation grant of $9,999 for Sheriff's Office overtime to patrol the area in hopes of decreasing crashes. |
"Not unless they tear this farm down will it come down," Ziegler said.
Longtime opponents of widening U.S. 12 from Middleton to Sauk City were dismayed by news of a compromise deal among high-ranking government officials, but remained resolute in taking the fight to the courts.
That resolve came within hours after an announcement that federal, state and local officials had reached a tentative agreement that U.S. 12 will be rebuilt as a four-lane highway starting in March 2002. The project is expected to cost $62 million to $64 million.
The deal ends a fight stalemated since the DOT first began studying ways to improve the highway in 1989. The agreement culminated after an intense week of negotiations. The final agreement still needs to be written and signed, which several officials said is expected within the next several weeks.
The basic principles of the deal, announced at a Thursday news conference, come down to DOT getting its way with a four-lane highway, and environmental advocates getting $15 million of federal and state money for land preservation near the highway.
Under the deal, the state Department of Transportation will:
In addition, the deal calls for $500,000 to help communities in Sauk and Dane counties plan for growth related to the highway. Another $500,000 in DOT money would be set aside to study alternative transportation, focusing on commuter rail, light rail and enhanced bus service as ways to alleviate traffic congestion.
The DOT also agreed in the deal not to propose a Sauk City bypass before 2020, and no West Baraboo bypass before 2015. The DOT has already proposed expanding U.S. 12 to four lanes between Baraboo and Lake Delton, with construction expected in 2008.
County Executive Kathleen Falk[,] calling the deal unprecedented, said, "What I hope I've delivered for the people on that corridor is not only a safe road that's been everybody's goal, but as importantly, as I've heard from citizens in that corner of the county, that we want their land preserved. We've tried our hardest to make that happen."
Falk also defended the decision of the key players to withhold details on the agreement until the announcement.
"This has not been a secret process," Falk said. "It's been on my public calendar since Day 1."
Gov. Tommy Thompson's chief of staff, Bob Wood, said, "The people of Wisconsin should be proud and excited."
Environmental groups split:
Sitting next to Falk at the press conference, DOT district director Tom Carlsen said, "We've wanted to preserve that corridor as much as Dane County wants to."
Enviromental groups were divided on the final package. The Nature Conservancy said that it satisfied their desire to protect surrounding lands. The Sierra Club released a statement saying "nothing has changed to make the project desirable or acceptable."
Rob Kennedy, a longtime advocate of a two-lane highway with New Transportation Alliance, said he supported the deal because of its land use protections, but did so reluctantly.
"We believed we could have done a super two-lane safety improvement faster and cheaper, but at a certain point we had to recognize that the governor, the DOT and the Federal Highway Administration weren't going to fund anything other than a four-lane."
Sierra Club Midwest Representative Brett Hulsey wasn't accepting that logic. He said he will be speaking with an attorney to challenge the deal in federal court on the basis that the state DOT has not fairly examined all possible road alternatives or done a fair cost comparison.
In a similar case last year, Hulsey said a federal judge in Chicago granted an injunction and ordered the Illinois Department of Transportation to re-do an environmental impact statement.
Joseph Acker who farms 240 acres split by the road, said he wouldn't take his opposition further, but took a cynical view of whether the new road would solve the safety problem.
"I've talked to the cops, and people are already going 85 on the road, so I figure they'll just go 90 and hit each other harder now," "'Acker said.
Tom Gilbert, a trail supervisor for the National Parks Service, said the deal will also call for an oversight board to monitor and enforce the agreement's priciples He did not sit with Falk, Car, Carlsen or Wood during the press conference, and would not declare victory for his cause, namely the Ice Age Trail corridor.
In negotiations, Gilbert said he in on a goal to dedicate $2 million to preserve the nearby lee Age Trail. He said the talks were difficult, but that he was satisfied that the federal agencies got any concessions from the DOT. His agency had long advocated for protection of the Baraboo Hills through building an improved two-lane highway.
"We had to work hard to get them (the DOT) to commit to anything at all," Gilbert said.
That wasn't much consolation to Ziegler. She said the DOT is considering three pathways for the road, two of which would call for demolition of their home farm.
Carlsen reminded, reporters at the news conference that land will be bought at market value from willing sellers, but Ziegler said their farm will be forever affected by the inevitable traffic and growth push surrounding their farm.
"I'm kind of disappointed in Kathleen Falk," Ziegler said. " 'I thought she was on our side, and wouldn't turn over so easily. But I'm disappointed in the DOT, too."
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