First of two parts

With the construction of an overpass that would take County Road C over Highway 51 becoming more of a priority with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, the matter of if the bridge will have access ramps could be a major factor in efforts to attract new business to that part of Lincoln County. Even local residents are watching the debate to see if they will have to travel miles out of their way to gain access to the major highway linking them to both Merrill and Tomahawk.

The Town of Merrill passed a resolution urging WisDOT to include ramps at the new overpass and the County Board of Supervisors also passed one at its last meeting two weeks ago. The County Highway Department is pursuing a TIGER grant from the federal government that would help pay for the ramps if they are approved.

Randy Scholz, County Road Commissioner said he should hear if the county has received the grant on Feb. 15.

"The original grant did not have the ramps in it, but there is enough money available to put the ramps in, with the grant," he said. "But they don’t get that specific, they just ask for a general concept."

Scholz said that the original grant application said the county wanted to use the funds to do 13 miles of reconstruction on Highway C and put an overpass in over Highway 51.

The plan has become somewhat of a priority with the WisDOT because there have been numerous serious crashes at the intersection including some fatalities. Highway C connects with Highway 45 in Langlade County, which is a major artery for logging trucks coming down from the northeastern portion of the state. These large trucks do a lot of damage to the road surface, and that’s why the county is pursuing the grant to improve the road to match what is coming from the east in Langlade County.

"That’s why we want to build it to the highest standards," he said.

Langlade County will be finished with their portion of the upgrade by 2012 with the completion of the last two bridges.

Even if Lincoln County receives the TIGER grant and pays for the on/off ramps at the overpass, state permission is still required to construct them.

"They (WisDOT) still have the final authority, it’s their road," Scholz said.

He said he wouldn’t want to hazard a guess as to what the ultimate decision will be from the state.

"All I know was their position from the start was that there was never going to be ramps there," he said.

Town of Merrill has built a business park near the intersection and the truck stop located on the west side of the crossing that was destroyed in a fire a couple months ago has yet to be rebuilt. The owner is waiting to see what decision the state makes on the ramp issue before committing to rebuilding. Residents in the area are also hoping ramps are put in to keep them from having to travel miles out of their way to access 51.

"The Town of Merrill passed their resolution, and the county board passed theirs two weeks ago at the regular meeting," Scholz said. "So we’re going to get both resolutions together and get all the letters we can get together. The City of Merrill Fire Department would like the ramps for access and safety reasons. We’re going to put that all together and send it out to our legislators and DOT higher ups and see if they can put some pressure on them."

Next week: A look at the business costs not having ramps at the intersection will have for the area.