Hard work pays off in Clintonville
Citizens speak and government listens.
Several months ago Dennis Lichtenberg and other residents on County Trunk I in Clintonville got the news that the 50-plus year old road was to be resurfaced. The road is only 20 feet wide in addition to being in very poor condition.
From a safety standpoint, residents pointed out that people living in the mobile home park and apartments boarding the road frequently walk on it to go to church, shop, etc. Many of these folks do not have automobiles.
Lichtenberg researched the issue thoroughly and contacted the Waupaca County Highway Committee. He met with the Clintonville City Council and the Larrabee Town Board, both of which endorsed the request to widen County I to 26 feet.
Lichtenberg reported a traffic count of 2,000 cars daily and measured other county roads in the area which have been or are being widened with a much lower traffic count. Lichtenberg and a dedicated group of residents met with the County Highway Committee every other week for several months. The board then toured the road and recently voted to widen the road to 26 feet. The work will be done in 2016.
I was part of the group who met with the Highway Committee to express my concern for the safety of Clintonville residents who walk or bike on the narrow road. I am pleased to report how well the County Highway Committee and Highway Commissioner Dean Steingraber worked with our group and listened to the concerns and facts presented. This is how government should work.
The citizens did their homework and made a case for their request. Government officials responded and followed up with a solution. Others who were active in this effort were Marion Lichtenberg, Dale and June Kluth, who’s strawberry farm is on County I, and other residents on the road including Mary and Ron Kautz, Don and Phyllis Goltz, Jerry and Janice Schroeder, Earl and Deanne Behnke, Bob Hoffman and others.
As Commissioner Steingraber pointed out, the road in front of peoples’ houses is always the most important road to them. But in this case, concerns for the people who use the road to reach shopping and church by foot were supported although they could not be there in person.
Mary-Beth Kuester
District 4 Alderwoman
Clintonville