By Jacob Mathias

The Town of Hull Board of Supervisors moved Monday night to support and push for a previous plan to move a portion of Highway 10 south to Old Highway 18.

At an informational meeting in November, citizens and supervisors of Hull were presented with project plans by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation to revamp the interchange between Highway 10 and Interstate 39.  Six different options were presented that could possibly decrease the flow of traffic in that area known for traffic jams and accidents.

Prior to the meeting in November, residents were informed that a proposal to move Highway 10 south to meet at Crossroads Commons and then turn north was WisDOT’s plan, a plan that has been since pulled off the table. The original plan is again being supported by the board.

According to WisDOT, there were 221 crashes from 2008 to 2012 in the area between I-39 and Brilowski Road, a problem that the current project is supposed to alleviate by redistributing traffic.

“Potentially now you’re going to continue to put more traffic on Highway 10 East and continue with the problems we’ve got out there,” said Holdridge.

The new plans include new signaling as well as frontage and backage roads, some of which will increase traffic in residential areas.

“We don’t need frontage roads or backage roads cutting through our subdivisions as a way to peel of the traffic before it gets to Highway 10,” said Dave Wilz, Town of Hull Board Supervisor.

The current average daily traffic counts for the area between I-39 and Maple Bluff Rd, which is adjacent to the Target store on Highway 10, is 32,700 vehicles. The projected traffic count for 2020 is 38,900, according to WisDOT.

The board also approved the formation of an ad hoc committee to learn and determine the best course of action regarding the current plans offered by WisDOT.

“We like to have somebody from the DOT meet with a small group and explain each plan and we can make some kind of decision or decide we don’t like any of them,” said Holdridge.  “These are local roads. Those local roads are controlled by the Town of Hull.”

For more information on the current studies and plans being offered by WisDOT visit: www.i39stevenspointarea.dot.wi.gov.