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Marathon County reports one traffic fatality in quarter; work‑zone crashes rise
Summary
County staff told the Infrastructure Committee the Highway Safety Commission recorded one fatal crash in the past three months, and work‑zone accidents and bicycle crashes rose while winter‑road incidents fell.
Jim, a highway department staff member, told the Marathon County Infrastructure Committee the Highway Safety Commission recorded one fatal crash in the past three months at the State Highway 52 and Highway X intersection, and investigators suspect a distracted driver.
The report to the committee said county sheriff’s investigators now have new equipment that shortened reconstruction time on that fatal crash from the normal six to eight hours to about four hours, allowing traffic to reopen sooner.
Why it matters: committee members said the data will guide enforcement and construction planning this year.
Committee materials and the verbal report listed 18 county and state projects planned for the summer construction season. Among projects mentioned were a two‑and‑a‑half‑inch surface cap on I‑39 from Bull Junior to Business 51 and a large resurfacing program on Highway 29, described in the packet as a roughly $78,000,000 project that includes patching and surface repairs and several bridge deck polymer overlays on County 107 and Highway 97.
The highway staff presentation compared 2024 crash numbers to a five‑year average. Staff said overall crashes and injuries were down slightly in 2024, motorcycles were down, commercial vehicle crashes edged up and bicycle crashes increased by 81 percent, a change staff attributed to more people bicycling rather than a single identified cause. Winter‑road crashes were down about 45 percent compared with the prior winter. Work‑zone crashes increased about 30 percent over the five‑year average, and staff said crews are implementing mitigation measures.
The report also highlighted a recurring county concern: horse‑and‑buggy collisions in areas with large Mennonite communities. Staff showed statewide and county charts from 2018–2024 indicating nearly every year had at least one fatality involving a horse and buggy, and the committee discussed local efforts to improve roadside lighting in those areas.
Committee members asked follow‑ups about crash analytics and hotspot prediction; staff noted the commission runs analytics using traffic volumes and work‑zone locations to predict hot spots for enforcement and will patrol those areas more heavily this year.
Ending: committee members had no further questions and asked staff to include the full commission packet with maps and the fatality report in upcoming meeting materials.
