Town hall meeting to be held Aug. 11 to share concerns and potential solutions
Residents in the Town of Sharon are speaking out against the closure of the bridge on Peters Road, claiming it’s land-locked them from the north and put them in potential danger.
The bridge, which crosses over the Wisconsin Southern Railroad tracks, was closed July 24 to all foot and vehicle traffic late last month after being deemed unsafe by both Walworth County and the State of Wisconsin Railroad Commission.
The bridge will be closed for an undefined amount of time, as the Town of Sharon does not have the funds to fix the unsafe bridge and the railroad claims it does not own the bridge and will not pay to replace or repair it.
According to Town of Sharon resident Carolyn Burke, she is among a group of 12 residents, all with the exception of one family being senior citizens, living south of the now impassable bridge.
Burke said the closure of the bridge has landlocked these residents from traveling about three miles north to Highway 14, adding significant travel time for the senior citizens and putting them in a potentially dangerous situation.
“I know for a fact, two of my neighbors, one who’s 86, have had ambulances here in the past six months,” she said. “That’s a real concern as these people are all older. I’m 60 and I’m like the second youngest one out of these 12 families…I’m just livid.”
Burke said having anaphylaxis, meaning in the event of an allergic reaction her windpipe would swell shut, is only one example of how the closure of this bridge is posing a danger for residents.
“When I have an allergic reaction to something I need to get to a hospital within 15 minutes or I could die,” she said. “That’s a real scary thing.”
With the closure, Burke said travel times have been greatly increased as not only residents, but also emergency vehicles from nearby Darien, have to reroute to the south before returning north to reach homes on Peters Road, and then backtrack to Highway 14 or Interstate 43.
Burke said Shady Road, the first road connecting with Peters Road south of the bridge, is in such bad shape that come winter, residents will have to travel even further south to find an eastward road just so they can travel to the north.
Burke said additionally the closure caught residents by surprise as signage, which she described as
being done on the back of the weight limit sign in black permanent marker, didn’t note that the closure of the bridge could be permanent if funding isn’t attained. Burke said if it was simply closed for repairs, which unfortunately many of the residents thought, it wouldn’t be as big of a concern.
Illustrating how some residents are being greatly affected by the closure, Burke noted an elderly woman living on the first property south of the bridge, who owns the 300-acre farm north of the bridge. Burke said the woman’s sons still care for the farm.
“Instead of going just over the bridge to their farm, they have to come back to Shady, go all the way around K, and come all the way around,” she said. “They can’t just go over the bridge and take care of their farm.
“We’re senior citizens, we’re on social security, who’s going to pay us for gas, the wear and tear on our cars, to do all this extra driving,” she said. “Let them go straight over the road two miles to the senior center, don’t make them drive 14 miles.”
Finding a solution
Burke, who has a legal background, originally suggested filing a lawsuit, though she said she hasn’t gotten that far yet.
She said she’s spoken with Town Chairman Rich Brandl, who said the town is working to file an application for federal funding covering about 80 percent of the cost. However, Burke said Brandl told her application process alone would take over a year.
“So, why didn’t we do this fiver years ago,” she said. “Brandl tells me the Township has zero dollars to fix this bridge.”
Burke said local residents told her that the state lists 52 as the lowest rating for a bridge, and the bridge on Peters Road received a 14.
“If you had two cars simultaneously at the top of that bridge, it is in such bad shape that it could collapse,” she said. “I was also told it is the last wooden bridge built in Wisconsin still in use.”
Burke said the state of the bridge is nothing new and it’s something that should have been fixed a long time ago.
“A kid could walk up there and fall right through it because it’s probably three feet of the ground and it looks like somebody just took a bunch of two-by-fours and nailed them up,” she said. “It’s absolutely horrendous…they’re all in disarray, it’s ridiculous.
“I’ve been here for thirteen years as of this coming December and this bridge has been an issue the 13 years I’ve lived here.”
Furthermore, Burke said Brandl told her he has correspondence with various government agencies about the state of the bridge that dates as far back as 30 years.
She said at this point she’s been in contact with candidates for the state senate Dan Kilkenny (D-Darien Township) and Stephen Nass (R-Whitewater), as the district currently has no sitting senator following Neal Kedzie’s resignation earlier this year.
“When I called Kedzie’s old office they told me to call up Amy Loudenbeck,” she said. “The statute doesn’t give them the right to put in a temporary senator in…so that seat is vacant until November, with no representation.”
Burke said Nass told her he would be contacting the State Department of Transportation, as well as Wisconsin Railroad Commissioner Jeff Plale, whom Burke was told by Walworth County Director of Central Services Kevin Brunner was the one who ordered the Town to close the bridge.
Additionally, Burke said she’s been in contact with Senators Ron Johnson and Tammy Baldwin, who told her they couldn’t do anything as the issue was not a federal issue. Burke said she has also written to Baldwin and Representative Paul Ryan, but has heard nothing back from either thus far.
“If the U.S. Senators won’t help us, where do we go,” she said.
Burke said a meeting has been scheduled for this coming Monday, Aug. 11, at the Town of Sharon Town Hall, N1097 Bollinger Rd. To her knowledge, she said both Nass and Kilkenny will be in attendance at the meeting, as well as a representative from State Representative Amy Loudenbeck’s office, who Burke said has been working on the issue.
Burke said she’s been busy informing residents of her efforts thus far, handing out fliers and inviting residents and nearby farmers who use the road to attend the town hall meeting.
