Madison Mayor presents road proposal to County Commission

Madison Mayor Marshall Dennert presented a proposal to the Lake County Commission on Tuesday regarding a couple of roads in the county.  Dennert spoke with commissioners regarding a portion of old Highway 34 and the bypass road.  He said that the city has received concerns from the Madison Community Center regarding potholes on old Highway 34 east of Airport Road.  The Community Center is holding a triathlon event later this month and participants will need to ride bikes on that area of the road.  Dennert told commissioners that he has found that this area of the highway is not dedicated to either the city or the county, and the city had come up with a proposal for it.

Along with the proposal for the stretch of old Highway 34, Dennert also addressed issues with the bypass around Madison.  He told commissioners that the city’s proposal is to assume the bypass and do maintenance and snow removal from the corner by Pizza Ranch south and east to where the Lake Area Improvement Corporation property ends on 455th Avenue.  Dennert said that with that, the city’s proposal, per the city’s engineer, would include some other stipulations from the county.

Dennert referred to information from the state Department of Transportation regarding future work on the bypass, which commissioners said they didn’t know anything about.  Commission Chair Kelli Wollmann asked for that information to be shared with the county.

Commissioner Dennis Slaughter told Dennert that the county doesn’t have the money or the resources available like the city does to fund what the city is asking them to do.

County commissioners on Tuesday acknowledged the city’s proposal that Dennert presented and asked that the bypass committee come together and meet again to discuss the issue.