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Infrastructure committee forwards staff recommendation to lower speed limit on County Highway Y near Pike Lake
Summary
The committee voted 5-0 to forward a staff recommendation to reduce the posted speed on a section of County Highway Y near Pike Lake from 55 mph to 45 mph, citing crash history and measured speeds.
The Marathon County Infrastructure Committee on July 9 voted unanimously to forward a staff recommendation to the full county board to lower the posted speed limit on a segment of County Highway Y in the Pike Lake area from 55 mph to 45 mph.
Commissioner Griesbach presented a staff traffic study and crash history. The study recorded five crashes in the area since February 2024, most single-vehicle lane departures on a segment with three curves and several local activity points including a ball field and town hall. Daily traffic volumes were about 900 vehicles on a typical day, and a holiday-weekend count registered about 1,900 vehicles.
Griesbach said the measured average speed in the segment was about 45 mph and the 85th-percentile speed was about 53 mph. Staff recommended a posted speed of 45 mph to better match observed speeds and address the crash pattern.
A motion "to take the staff recommendation down to 45" was made (mover not explicitly recorded in the transcript) and seconded by Supervisor Chris Dickinson. The committee approved forwarding the staff recommendation to the county board by a unanimous 5-0 vote.
Several supervisors noted general reluctance to lower speed limits where road design supports a higher speed, but they accepted the staff recommendation based on the crash record and the short distance involved. The item will appear on the full county board agenda for a final decision.
