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Highway 26 Corridor Study - Preserve 26 |
Highway 26 Corridor Study Home - Purpose - Meetings - Maps of the Watertown, Jefferson and Milton bypasses |
| Preserve 26 - Highway 26 Land and Community Preservation Coalition
Mission The Highway 26 Land and Community Preservation Coalition (Preserve 26) represents individuals and organizations along the USH 26 corridor from Janesville through Watertown who are committed to preserving the corridor's farmland, habitat, and rural character. Preserve 26 also supports local planning, intergovernmental cooperation, and other activities to avoid sprawl and channel new economic development primarily into existing urban communities along the corridor. Bypass and rural improvements for the Jefferson Segment Preserve 26 supports the approval of USH 26 facility improvements as well as land use plans and implementation measures to minimize primary and secondary impacts that could disrupt the current urban character of Jefferson and Johnson Creek, the rural character of its nearby towns and farms, open space, and natural habitat. Specifically, we support: A bypass alternative that would stay within or close to the planned urban service boundaries of the city of Jefferson and induce the least amount of urban sprawl. Participation by Jefferson County, the City of Jefferson, City of Johnson Creek, Town of Jefferson, Town of Farmington, and Town of Aztalan, in a USH 26 Corridor Plan, including potential intergovernmental agreements, to manage highway access and land use along the improved facility. Pursuit of new state "smart growth" and other planning funds for the purpose of participating in corridor planning and preparation of the transportation element of local plans as they relate to USH 26 improvements. Plans and implementation measures generally to direct new commercial and residential development within the planned Jefferson and Johnson Creek areas urban service area boundaries and prevent "sprawl-type" development in currently undeveloped areas. Preserve 26 is circulating this draft position to gather constructive comments and suggestions. A modified position paper will then be the basis for suggested resolutions we hope to be considered by the governing councils of each appropriate local government in the central USH 26 study area. Please direct your comments to: Greg David, Secretary Preserve 26 Key Recommendations At its meeting on November 9 the Highway 26 Land and Community Preservation Coalition (Preserve 26) unanimously adopted the following recommendations. Recommendations A. General: Planning Before Construction: Bypass and other capacity expansions along the corridor should not take place until adequate land use preservation and facility access restrictions are in place. The time to develop plans and agreements to preserve land and the health of existing communities is now, before new highway alignments and capacity changes increase development pressures in new, sprawl-type ways. After right-of-way acquisition and construction have taken place it is too late to avoid the development of land that should be preserved. Alternative to Reconstruct "As Is" with Spot Improvements Must Be Thoroughly Explored: More justification of projected traffic and congestion, including information from a study of origins and destinations in the three study areas should be provided. Moreover, the value of spot congestion improvements should be completely explored before deciding in favor of any bypasses in keeping with federal TEA-21 directives to maximize use of existing facilities. Although bypasses may be needed, experience makes it clear that these and other capacity expansions nearly always have negative secondary land use impacts. Preservation of the land and quality of life of the communities of Milton, Jefferson City, Watertown, Johnson Creek, and the surrounding townships must be our first priority. B. Specific Planning Proposals: Integrated Corridor Plan: Develop and adopt an integrated, multi-government comprehensive transportation and development plan for the corridor. The expansion of USH 26 sets up development pressures that extend beyond any local government's boundaries or effective powers. Moreover, peripheral developments often create conflicting pressures among cities, towns, and other governmental units. Finally, if one community along the corridor acts as a "renegade" with respect to commercial or some other form of development, the economic development and fiscal plans of other communities all along the corridor can suffer. For these and other reasons, all significant local governments along USH 26 should cooperate and integrate their own local plans with one anther's, using intergovernmental agreements where appropriate, to achieve efficient development and a preservation vision for the future. Local governments should ask WisDOT and/or other state agencies for planning money available for these purposes. Minimum Impact Alignments: Choose highway improvement alternatives that utilize the existing alignment, minimize the number of new lanes and the length of any bypasses, and that place a bypass within urban boundaries or as close as possible to those boundaries. The location of any facility expansions should minimize the loss of land directly and indirectly from secondary development impacts. Recognizing that bypasses can often become a community's new urban boundary or the locus of new, sprawl-type development generally, bypasses should ideally be routed within existing urban boundaries. Note: Although Preserve 26 has yet to take an official position on any specific alignments, it does call for more detailed development and/or analysis of the following alternatives: Milton: Alternative 1E to the east or a similar "minimal departure" alignment; Jefferson: Existing alignment through city or 2D to the west; Watertown: A "split traffic" alternative based on the existing alignment for northbound traffic with southbound traffic on a new, westerly alignment within the city or on existing streets or a combination of these options; or Option E to the east to keep the bypass close to existing development and within corporate limits. Interchange Locations and Access Controls: Limit access and locate interchanges to prevent "local" use of bypasses. Access to bypasses should facilitate through and intercity traffic, not traffic within a community. To enhance through traffic and reduce open space development pressures, the number of interchanges should be minimized to two in each study area located "before" and "after" an urban area, not within an urban area. For example, Preserve 26 would generally not favor a Jefferson bypass interchange at USH 18 or a Watertown bypass at USH 19 because of probable commercial sprawl impacts. Control Connecting Roadway Uses: Prohibit new USH 26 curb cuts and nearby access on connecting roadways. Access management should ensure that the expanded highway is dedicated to intercity and through traffic and avoid any access that would encourage peripheral development. Access controls should cover more intense uses of existing curb cuts and be extended to include local plans to restrict new access within a set distance on county, town, and municipal highways that connect with USH 26. Create Interchange Agreements: Use multi-governmental interchange access agreements with WisDOT to prohibit development around interchanges outside existing urban boundaries. The rural character and health of local central business districts could easily be lost to sprawl-type retail and other commercial development around interchanges. A limited number of auto- (not truck) oriented service stations should be the only exception to this rule. To clarify the impacts faced by local communities from interchanges WisDOT should describe secondary land use impacts from interchanges in its interchange justification reports. Use Easements: Scenic easements and other preservation tools should be used to preserve greenspace along USH 26, especially its bypasses: Without strong and clear development control measures the rural landscape along USH 26 will likely be lost to the kind of strip commercial development served by frontage roads that typically occurs along new highway alignments. Preserve Existing Urban Boundaries, Grid Street Patterns, and Connectivity: Developments and roadways should not "reach out" to include a bypass or expanded USH 26 but remain within planned urban boundaries. The expansion of USH 26 should not become the excuse for expanding urban land use inefficiently. Infill should be emphasized and street patterns for new development should be designed in an orderly, gridlike fashion and provide good local street, collector, and arterial connectivity with the existing street grid. Existing urban commercial areas, especially "Main St." should continue to be the focus of the community's retail and other activities. Discourage Truck Traffic: Local residents are concerned that an increasing number of trucks are using USH 26 as an alternative to the interstate system, especially in the case of trucks that are over the legal weight limit. This concern could be tested with a temporary weigh station somewhere north of Janesville. Individual Land Owner and Resident Issues: WisDOT should be sure to meet with and satisfy concerns over specific parcels of land and concerns with flood plains, wetlands, and the division of farms. Bypass and rural improvements for the Watertown Segment Preserve 26 supports the approval of USH 26 facility improvements as well as land use plans and implementation measures to minimize primary and secondary impacts that could disrupt the current urban character of Watertown, the rural character of its nearby towns and farms, open space, and natural habitat. Specifically, we support: A bypass alternative that would stay within or close to the planned urban service boundaries of the City of Watertown; Participation by Jefferson County, Dodge County, the City of Watertown, Town of Watertown, Town of Sheilds, Town of Emmet, Town of Clyman, and Village of Clyman in a USH 26 Corridor Plan, including potential intergovernmental agreements, to manage highway access and land use along the improved facility. Pursuit of new state "smart growth" and other planning funds for the purpose of participating in corridor planning and preparation of the transportation element of local plans as they relate to USH 26 improvements. Plans and implementation measures generally to direct new commercial and residential development within the planned Watertown area urban service area boundary and prevent "sprawl-type" development in currently undeveloped areas. Preserve 26 is circulating this draft position to gather constructive comments and suggestions. A modified position paper will then be the basis for suggested resolutions we hope to be considered by the governing councils of each appropriate local government in the northern USH 26 study area. Please direct your comments to: Greg David, Secretary Preserve 26. Contact Greg David, Secretary Jefferson Contact |
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