TOWN OF NEENAH, WI (WTAQ) – The Winnebago County Board voted down a proposal Tuesday that would have put temporary traffic lights for an intersection some people believe is dangerous.
County officials say a few dozen crashes have taken place at the intersection of County Road CB and Oakridge Road in the Town of Neenah. Three of them have been fatal crashes since 2000.
Recently, a petition to make changes at that intersection got nearly 2,000 signatures.
Carol Joubert lost her daughter Moriah Munsch last March in a crash at that intersection.
“I know it sounds funny, but I feel that’s a good thing, because we want to look at the intersection as it is, as it was when Moriah’s accident was there, when she died there, so that it can be fixed, so that we can find out the right thing to do for that intersection,” Munsch told FOX 11.
A study started a few days ago to find a permanent solution to making the intersection safer.
County board member Bill Roh proposed the temporary lights. He says the intersection has undergone 2 studies in the past with no changes.
“What happens in August if this study comes in and says, ‘Nope, you don’t need a roundabout, nope you don’t need traffic signals, nope you don’t need four way stops signs,’ What are we gonna do, say, ‘well the study says we don’t need anything? Anybody else ready for an accident? It’s just, in my opinion, ridiculous to sit here and do nothing,” Roh told FOX 11.
County Highway Commissioner Ernest Winters says this is a more in-depth study than those in the past. He explained temporary traffic lights could do more harm than good and possible skew the study’s results.
“Putting up signals sort of as an all of a sudden reaction, sometimes you don’t get the desired results,” said Winters.
Joubert won’t rest until the right solution is found to make this spot safer.
“I don’t want another family, another mother, parents, somebody to hear words from the county coroner, words that echo through my mind,” she said.
According to Winters, the study will be done sometime in August. He said depending on the outcome, the county could get federal funding to improve the intersection. Winters adds the study can also suggest temporary solutions to help in the meantime.
