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Department of Transportation studies options on Highway 50

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DELAVAN — Imagine a stretch of Highway 50 as a worm in biology class.

The classroom Wednesday night was the commons at Delavan-Darien High School. It was filled with visual aides depicting every angle of Highway 50 between Interstate 43 and Highway 67.

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation has cut the highway into four segments as it studies ways to accommodate projected traffic growth. Residents and business owners streamed through the commons looking at maps and cross sections of each alternative for each section.

Some alternatives showed red "X's" where houses or businesses would be removed. Other alternatives showed few or no X's.

Despite the array of options, the facts didn't add up for John Markgraf, who has hands-on experience with Highway 50.

Markgraf works for the Walworth County Public Works Department. His snowplowing route includes County F to the north and south of the Delavan Lake inlet as well as the short piece of Highway 50 in between.

Markgraf pointed to the traffic projections in the pamphlet passed out to attendees at Wednesday's meeting. He thinks the numbers point to a need for more research of traffic on County F.

What bugs Markgraf is how the number of vehicles drops off on Highway 50 east of South County F.

In 2006, 13,200 vehicles drove the stretch of Highway 50 between North County F and South County F.

But east of South County F to Theatre Road, only 7,600 vehicles were recorded, according to DOT statistics.

"They're using it (County F) as a shortcut to somewhere," he said.

Markgraf suspects the shortcut leads to Highway 67, and he thinks the DOT needs to study traffic on County F and consider alternatives to expanding Highway 50.

Town of Delavan Fire Chief Jerry Edwards said he's concerned a proposed median in Highway 50 between North County F and South County F would hinder emergency vehicle access to the residential neighborhood at the Delavan Lake inlet.

That median could make it hard for emergency responders coming from the west—such as the City of Delavan Fire Department—to turn north into the neighborhood, Edwards said.

Taking a different route into the neighborhood would be difficult for big fire engines.

"Some of those roads are narrow," Edwards said. "You could get stuck up in there."

Although the room Wednesday was full of alternatives, Brent Kendall didn't see the one he wanted.

Kendall owns Pirate's Cove, 622 Highway 50, Delavan. The bar is at the northeast corner of Highway 50 and North County F.

Kendall thinks the DOT is trying to move traffic quickly though the Delavan Lake inlet. He would prefer an alternative route for motorists who want to bypass the inlet.

"The only thing I haven't seen is an alterative," Kendall said. "This is single-minded thinking. A single thought. That just boggles me."