The Marinette County Board plans to have the Kamm Rd Intersection on their agenda for either January or February. See article below from the EagleHerald Newspaper, 1-5-2024, regarding updates and progress towards getting a safer solution in our community.

“The first step is for citizen/public involvement,” Kantola said. “We look for people to come to us, just like the town of Grover did.”

Source EagleHerald -1/5/2024

TOWN OF GROVER — The town of Grover is working with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation on how to improve safety at the intersection of U.S. 41 and Kamm Road.

Eight-month-old Alana C. Price, of Oconto, died in a car crash at the intersection on Oct. 6, across from the Eagle Express Truck Stop, N2536 Kasal Lane.
A motorist coming off of Kamm Road turned left (north) after stopping at the stop sign and drove into the path of a south-bound car driven by Cody J. Price, 30, of Oconto. Price’s infant daughter was restrained in a child safety seat in the back seat.

Some veteran emergency rescue workers have, on social media, referred to the intersection as “Death’s Door” and “Deadman’s Curve.”
Town of Grover has a planIn early December, the Grover Town Board, approved a recommendation to the DOT to close access from Kamm Road to U.S. 41.
The recommendation reads in part: “The closure of the Kamm Road connection to U.S. 41, along with the removal of the northbound left turn lane and southbound right turn lane onto Kamm Road. This would remove multiple points from the intersection and remove the stopping/standing of vehicles in the median, while keeping the median open. This recommendation would not significantly affect emergency response times and would have the least amount economic impact.”

Grover Town Chairman Brad Wyss told the EagleHerald the town has been in communication with the DOT and state legislators.
“There is some movement to have something happen there,” Wyss said. He said in 2015-16, the DOT recommended closing the median and putting in some J-turns, but that was met with opposition from the public.
He said the plan is for the town and the DOT to present proposals to Marinette County either this month or in February.

“We were going to present it (the town’s recommendation) earlier to the county, but we decided to wait for the DOT to do an engineering overview,” Wyss said. “Then members of the DOT and either myself or another member of our board will present jointly to the county’s Infrastructure Committee. Both proposals will be reviewed by the county board as well to see if they have a recommendation.”
Wyss said the town’s proposal would result in the closure of a 250-foot section between Kamm Road and Vernon Hills Drive.
He said the board feels this proposal would have the least economic impact to the area, with no significant increase in travel time or mileage to any driver. He said the intersection services three businesses (Eagle Express/George Webb, Vernon Hills Golf Course and Peppino’s Pizza) which account for about 30 to 40 jobs.

“It’s very much in the beginning stages,” Wyss said of a final proposal. “No matter what occurs, nothing is going to happen overnight — nothing does in government. But this is a step forward. You want to make the intersection safe. You’re never going to completely do that.”

Wyss brings unique knowledge to the subject. He’s been a Marinette County deputy for nearly 18 years and he’s a member of an accident reconstruction team. Town of Grover Supervisor I Katie Vande Walle is a county dispatcher.
“I measure serious or fatal accidents all over the county,” Wyss said. “We’ve tried to express to the DOT that we’re a knowledgeable board. A lot of thought has gone into it.”

Wyss also is local native, born and raised in the town of Grover.
“In my opinion — and this is not the opinion of the sheriff’s office or the town or anything — it (the intersection) was never engineered correctly from the get (start). It’s not an intersection I like to even travel through myself. I do it occasionally out of necessity. It’s our local folks. It’s our neighbors, our friends, their family, that are the ones that are getting seriously hurt and killed here and I firmly believe that something needs to be done. It’s just a matter of trying to accomplish that while still keeping in mind the local businesses and the residents that use it every day.”

Wyss is confident in the town’s proposal.
“I want people to have the most amount of information they can so people understand what it is we’re trying to accomplish,” he said. “I think once people understand the impact to travel, I think the majority of folks will support it. Nobody wants to see another unfortunate accident there.”
DOT officials are listening
The Wisconsin DOT Northeast Region has two men leading an investigation into the intersection. Randy Asman is the supervisor of the traffic safety unit and Mason Simmons is a civil/safety engineer.

“They investigate potential roadway improvements and via the safety certification process they determine safety improvements,” said Mark Kantola, the regional communications manager for the DOT Northeast Region. He said they consider existing crash patterns, adjacent environment, cost-benefit ratio and other factors.
“Right now they are vetting the data for the safety certification process,” Kantola said. “That’s where they stand.”
He said the DOT is well aware of the intersection and the department appreciates all public input.
“Anytime we get (feedback) from local officials, the legislators, it just always helps doing any type of project like this,” Kantola said. “I know the Grover town chairman (Wyss) is working very closely with Randy and Mason, both. We do appreciate that when our partners step up and work with us, help us and have ideas. It makes everything easy going forward.”
Shortly after the October fatal accident, the DOT received a petition initiated by town of Peshtigo resident Kris Edgar asking that something be done.
“This isn’t unusual,” Kantola said of receiving a petition. “We take it all into consideration.”
He said citizens can go on the department’s newly designed website (WisDot.gov) to find out how road improvements are considered from start to finish.
“The first step is for citizen/public involvement,” Kantola said. “We look for people to come to us, just like the town of Grover did.”
One aspect of the DOT’s plan may be utilizing restricting crossing U-turns (or R-cuts). Kantola said these used to be called J-turns — something that wasn’t well received by the public back in 2016.
Kantola said R-cuts (see accompanying image) limit the “conflict” points from 42 at a regular four-lane intersection down to 24.
“They are more popular these days because they are proven to stop those serious crashes,” he explained. “You go from 42 to 24 (conflict points), you’re cutting in half the chances of you getting hit in a car. That’s what the data says. You have less chances of getting in a serious crash with an R-cut. That’s why they are becoming a popular safety improvement — not only in Wisconsin, but really across the country.”
He said R-cuts are being considered at the Kamm-U.S. 41 intersection.
“But again, the safety certification process is still under way so we can’t say yes or no to anything right now because the data has to tell us what to do,” Kantola said.
He said as the process moves forward, public hearings will be scheduled and residents will be able to provide input. He said people were very passionate in 2016 and he expects more of the same.

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