GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – A proposal from the Outagamie County Highway Department is aimed at lowering the speed limit for a stretch of I-41, which extends into Brown County, but for now local officials are saying they need more information before any possible changes are made.
The proposal would drop the speed limit from 70 to 55 mph on I-41 from Highway 15 in Grand Chute to Scheuring Road near De Pere.
Brown County Executive Troy Streckenbach says the possible speed reduction could have some drawbacks.
“Right now people who are traveling on [Highway] 41 are accustomed to driving at 70 miles per hour, so when you reduce that it potentially creates an unintended risk that potentially no one is thinking about,” he explains.
Close to 900 accidents and 700 traffic stops have been reported in the past two years on the stretch of roadway.
Those numbers are enough to convince Brown County Executive Streckenbach that potential changes should be discussed.
“Outagamie is trying to bring this to the forefront from a conversation standpoint and of course we’re concerned about the overall safety travelers,” he says.
At this point though, he believes more information is needed to direct the conversation.
“Data is needed in order for us to really make some concrete decisions about how to move forward,” says Streckenbach. “The public needs to be able to weigh-in and have some voice in terms of what that might look like.”
Streckenbach did mention that there might be alternatives to reducing the speed limit to achieve a goal of improved roadway safety.
“One of the things that I think is a potentially low-cost, high-impact [option] would be an additional law enforcement presence along those sections,” he noted.
Outagamie County board officials could possibly decide on the future of the proposal at their next meeting, which is later this month.
