CN fix to ‘speedbumps’ on County Hwy. R completed this week, county says

By Brandi Makuski

PLOVER — Canadian National Railroad and its subcontractors have begun work to rebuild the rail crossing approaches on County Hwy. R.

After months of reconstruction on County Hwy. R last year, the second of a three-phase project phase was completed in November and Portage Co. reopened the road to traffic with a new speed limit of 40 miles an hour.

But village and county officials weren’t pleased with the outcome of the railroad approaches, which were the responsibility of CN, a federal entity.

Village engineer Joe Terry told the Plover Trustees last year that he thought of the 16-foot approaches as “speedbumps.”

“So if you hit that at about 25 miles an hour, you’re going to wreck your car, potentially have an accident. Northbound’s not too bad, but southbound, you’ve got to be careful,” he said.

Terry said the county had limited authority to fix the issue because the CN right-of-way is generally 50 feet, so “it’s not like the county can just go in there and make improvements. They’d need to get permission from the railroad.”

The village installed warning signage for motorists in both directions until it could be repaired.

While a good portion of the road is bordered by the town of Plover, the phased reconstruction of County Hwy. R is the responsibility of the village of Plover and Portage Co. It’s the same area where Portage Co. plans to build a new jail facility. 

Under the terms of a 2010 agreement between the village and the county, the two governmental agencies split the costs for the first phase. Portage Co. will fund 100 percent of the second phase this year. The village is responsible for paying 100 percent of the third phase. Information on the final phase is still pending.

Portage Co. Highway Commissioner Nathan Check said the reconstruction of the approaches should be complete by the end of the week.