ELEMENT 3 - TRANSPORTATION

 

Introduction

The transportation network is the backbone upon which a community bases its economy, access to resources, and connections to other communities forming a critical link to continued development and growth. Maintenance and repair, in addition to periodic additions and enhancements to this system, are essential for its use by county residents, visitors, and businesses. Keeping pace with changes in transportation trends and network use are also essential to anticipate needed improvements and potential additions to the transportation network.

 

Vehicular (automotive) travel is the predominant mode of travel for residents of the Town of Round Lake and Sawyer County.

 

 

Roadway Characteristics

The Town of Round Lake’s roadway network is comprised of 128.55 miles of highways and roadways. Of these, the town has 108 town roads totaling 88.63 miles. Roads within the community are classified by their functional use and by the amount of traffic they carry. Table 3.1 below indicates the functional use of Round Lake’s roadway network.

 

   Table 3.1 - Functional Roadways in the Town of Round Lake

 

Source: Wisconsin Department of Transportation, District 8

 

 

 

 

Functional Class

Functional road classifications for rural areas include principal arterials, minor arterials, major collectors, minor collectors, and local roads. Descriptions of the classes are as follows:

·         Principal arterials- serves interstate and interregional trips. These roads generally serve urban areas greater than 5,000 in population.

·         Minor arterials- serve cities, large communities, and other major traffic generators providing intra-regional and inter-regional traffic movements.

·         Major collectors- provides service to moderate-sized communities and links intra-area traffic to nearby larger population centers.

·         Minor collectors- these roads collect traffic from local roads and link them to all remaining smaller communities. All developed areas should be within a reasonable distance of a collector road.

·         Local roads- provide access for travel over relatively short distances. All roads not classified as arterials or collectors are local function roads. These routes directly connect community residences, farms, and other businesses with the larger transportation framework

Private access roads- these include a lane, street or other improved surface on privately owned lands which is designated and ordinarily used for vehicular travel within a commercial, business, industrial, residential development.

 

In the Town of Round Lake there are no Principle Arterials. State Highway 77 is classified as a minor arterial.  County Highways “A”, “B”, and “S” are classified as major collectors, while Twin Lakes Road is classified as a minor collector. These roadway corridors serve as the primary road routes into, out of, and through the town. The majority of the roadways in the Town of Round Lake are Local roads.

 

Because of the rural setting of the town there are many private roads that are not paid for or maintained by the town. These private roads must meet certain basic criteria such as width of right of way, height clearance for emergency vehicles, and in some cases a turning radius on cul de sacs.

 

Since part of our town is in the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest a large part of the area road system consists of roads designated as forest roads. In the town, these roads include Forest Road 164, 173, 174, 302, 305, 306, 310, 315, 319, 320, 321, 715, 718, 729, 741, 758, 1643, 1647, 1648, 1650, 1658, 1663, and 1666.  These forest roads were developed for logging purposes and are still used for logging but are also now used for recreation.  They are sometimes referred to as fire lanes. Some roads are used as a way to reach hunting and elk viewing areas, and some are designated as snow mobile and ATV trails.  Most of them are gravel.

 

To protect the public safety and welfare, to provide for emergency services, Sawyer County has established a comprehensive road naming and numbering system for structures, parcels and facilities; to create and establish regulations for such system and to provide for its administration, control and enforcement.

 

 

Average Daily Traffic

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation collects traffic data throughout the state to better understand the long term trends and traffic volume. Traffic counts are generally collected every 3 years in the summer during a 3-5 weekday period.  Tables 3.2 and 3.3 below illustrate the change in traffic use from 1985 through 2004 in the Town of Round Lake. The two locations with most notable traffic increase is site #2 with a 33% increase, and site #5 with 125% increase. This increase in traffic suggests multiple factors. First, the region is characterized by large amounts of lakeshore and may be the destination for traffic originating from out of the area. Secondly, the Town of Round Lake and the Sawyer County area have seen an increase in the permanent residency population and the development of second homes by seasonal residents. Lastly, the residents of the town and surrounding areas are making more frequent trips for shopping, work commutes and school.

 

 

Table 3.2 - Town of Round Lake Annual Average Daily Traffic

Site 1 – Hwy 77 east of Lower Twin Lake Rd *     Site 4 - Cty B west of McClaine Rd

Site 2 - Hwy 77 east of Cty A                              Site 5 - Cty B west of Cty A *

Site 3 - Cty A south of Hwy 77                            Site 6 - Cty S north of Cty B *

 

Sites # 1, 5 and 6 share borders with surrounding towns.

Source: WI Department of Transportation

 

 

 

Table 3.3 - Town of Round Lake Annual Average Daily Traffic

 

Location                                                  1985    1988     1991     1995    1998   2001    2004

Site-1  Hwy 77 east of Lower Twin Lake Rd	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	2200	1600	1200
Site-2  Hwy 77 east of Cty A	600	600*	750	1100	1100	930	800
Site-3  Cty A south of Hwy 77	310	310*	640	350	450	610	320
Site-4  Cty B west of McCLaine	N/A	N/A	N/A	1900	2100	2900	2400
Site-5  Cty B east of Cty CC	1000	1020	1250	1400	1400	1900	2200
Site-6  Cty S north of Cty B	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	160	110

Source: WI Department of Transportation       *construction-1985 AADT used         

According to the Department of Workforce Development, 246 more workers entered County from the surrounding collar counties than leave to work outside of Sawyer County. Of the 936 worker who entered the county in 2000, the majority came from Washburn County, and the second largest amount came from Bayfield County. (Table 3.4) The number of workers who commute within Sawyer County was increased by 1684, or almost 40% in the 10 year span from 1990 to 2000. Data shows that 59.8% of Town of Round Lake workers drive alone, 17.9% carpool, 15.3% work at home, and the remainder use public transportation, walk, or have other means for work commutes.

 

 

 

Table 3.4 - Sawyer County Commuting Patterns 1990 and 2000

 

	1990               From Sawyer County to:	1990 To Sawyer County      from:	Difference	2000 From Sawyer County to:	2000 To Sawyer County from:	Difference
Ashland	30	13	-17	33	37	+4
Bayfield	120	106	-14	97	224	+127
Price	62	36	-26	33	25	-8
Rusk	114	44	-70	166	32	-134
Washburn	366	380	+14	361	618	+257
Totals	692	579	-113	690	936	+246
Sawyer	4166			5850		+1684

 

Source: WI Department of Workforce Development                

 

 

 

 

 

Roadway Improvements   

Improvements to the local roadway system are critical for maintaining an adequate and safe roadway system. The Town of Round Lake has developed a schedule of improvements for roadways in town. However, the following schedule of future roadway improvements should be considered tentative and not definite. Please note however, that this is only a tentative road improvement schedule and may change due to a number of different factors. Table 3.5 below depicts planned future improvements in more detail.

 

 

 

 

 

Table 3.5 - Selected Roadway Improvements, 2002-2006

 

Year	Sponsor	Road/Street	Location (From/To)	Mileage	Cost	Type of Improvement
2007	Rd Lake	Louie’s Landing Rd	XL Dam Bridge			Replace
2007	Rd Lake	Moose Lake Rd	Bridge at CTH S			Replace
2007	State	STH 77	CTH A to Ghost Lake (Spider Lake)	6.2 mi	N/A	Resurface
2008	County	Cty S	Moose Lake			Resurface
2012	Rd Lake	Chief River Rd	Bridge			Replace

Source: Town of Round Lake & Sawyer County

 

 

 

Roadway Evaluation

In 2001, the Town of Round Lake conducted a state mandated roadway evaluation known as PASER (Pavement Surface Evaluation Rating). The rating system is intended to assist the town in planning for roadway improvements and to better allocate its financial resources for these improvements. In the evaluation, roadways in the town were inventoried in terms of their surface condition, drainage, and road crown. Paved roads were rated from 1 to 10 (10 being the best) and gravel roads were rated from 1 to 5 (5 being the best).  This rating system is still used although the State PASER Program has been discontinued.

 

 

                         Table 3.6 - Town of Round Lake Road Ratings

 

Description of Road Ratings		Ratings of the Town Roads
1	Failed- Needs total reconstruction.	12 roads	11%
2	Very Poor – Severe deterioration. Needs reconstruction with extensive base repair.	14 roads	13%
3	Poor – Needs patching and major overlay or complete recycling.	11 roads	10%
4	Fair – Significant aging and first signs of need for strengthening. Would benefit from recycling or overlay.	12 roads	11%
5	Fair – Surface aging, sound structural condition, Needs sealcoat or nonstructural overlay.	6 roads	.06%
6	Good - Show signs of aging, Sound structural condition, Could extent life with sealcoat.	3 roads	.03%
7	Good - First signs of aging, Maintain with routine crack filling.	8 roads	.07%
8	Very Good - Recent sealcoat or new road mix, Little or no maintenance required.	26 roads	24%
9	Excellent - Recent overlay, like new.	12 roads	11%
10	Excellent - New Construction.	3 roads	.03%
		10 Federal Forest roads 9%

          Source: Town of Round Lake

 

 

Road inspections are done in the town every spring by the town board members and the Town of Round Lake road crew foreman.  At that time there is a list of improvements that need to be addressed.  The budget determines how much of those improvements can be made in that year. 

 

In the spring, the Town of Round Lake Town Board imposes weight restrictions on all town roads to lower the allowable weight in recognition of the instability caused by frost and to prevent road damage.  In addition to the local restrictions, Sawyer County imposes weight restrictions on all CTH's in the town.  No restrictions are placed on all State Highways and County Road B.

 

Improvements to local roads are critical for maintaining an adequate and safe roadway system.  Future road improvements are generally based on current road conditions with the intent to keep all roadways intact and useable on a daily basis.  Future roadway improvements need to be flexible because of the possibility of unforeseen emergencies or disasters that may arise from year-to-year or even day-to-day.

 

 

 

 

Airports and Airfields

No scheduled passenger flights are available in Sawyer County. The nearest airports providing regular scheduled passenger flights to domestic and international destinations are in Duluth, Minnesota or Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota. At present, Sawyer County has a total of five airports/airfields. Their use is outlined in the table below.

 

 

Table 3.7 - Sawyer County Airports/Airfields

 

Airfield / Airport	Location	Owner / Operator	Status
Sawyer County Airport	Hayward Twp.; T41N, R9W, S. 24	Sawyer County	Public
Rainbow Airport	Ojibwa Twp.; T39N, R6W	Wayne Carpenter	Private (turf strip)
Lake Chippewa Field	Hunter Twp., T40N, R7W	(No owner listed)	Private (turf strip)
Round Lk. Seaplane Base	Round Lake Twp.; T41N, R8W	John Frisbe	Private (water)
Kitty-Wompus Airport	Weirgor Twp., T37N, R7W	Jordan Arvold	Private (turf)

Source: Wisconsin Department of Transportation, Bureau of Aeronautics, 1998

 

 

 

 

 

 

Multi-Use / Recreational Trails

Throughout Sawyer County, there are several hundred miles of multi-use trails and a large number of forest roads. This network is used most intensely during the winter months for snowmobiling and in the summer months for ATV use, which in addition to its recreational use provides an alternate means of commuting (other than vehicle travel) for some Sawyer County residents. This network includes:

 

·         Over 600 miles of snowmobile trails	·         200 miles of bike trails
·         30.5 miles of ATV trails	·         Hiking trails
·         200 miles of cross country ski trails	·         Horseback trails

 

In the Town of Round Lake specifically, there exists a number of trail systems. These systems in Round Lake include Class A groomed snowmobile only trails, ATV only routes and trails for both ATV and snowmobiles.

 

 

 

Public Transit

Public transit service in the Town of Round Lake is provided by LCO/Sawyer County Transit, a county wide organization.  It provides door -to -door pick-up and drop-off service to residents through several fixed routes and individual service.  Most routes include travel from LCO to Hayward and back and some go through the Town of Round Lake. This service has been revised as of February, 2007 to allow for more on- call service when available.  All arrangements must be made 24 hours in advance.  For more information check the Sawyer County web site http://www.sawyercountygov.org/

.

 

Other transportation in the county is provided by the Senior Resource Center.  It offers door stop service for people who are over the age of 55 between the hours of 8 AM and 4 PM Monday through Friday in the city of Hayward extending 6 to 8 miles beyond.  The number for the Center is 634- 3000 and reservations are needed 24 hours in advance

 

For travel outside of the county NWT Express provides ground transportation between Hayward and Minneapolis/St. Paul.  The service operates seven days a week in the summer and 5 days in the winter, with scheduled stops at communities along the way.  The number for NWT Express is 634-5307

 

 

 

Wisconsin Pedestrian Policy Plan 2020

The WI Pedestrian Policy Plan 2020 expects every transportation agency to make accommodations for bicycling and walking as a routine part of their planning, design, construction, operations and maintenance activities. . The Plan 2020 clearly intends for bicyclists and pedestrians to have safe, convenient access to the transportation system and sees every transportation improvement as an opportunity to enhance the safety and convenience of the two modes. Currently the Town of Round Lake is considered a rural area. Recommendations include paved shoulders in all new construction and reconstruction used by more than 1,000 vehicles per day. 

 

 

Wisconsin Bicycle Transportation Plan 2020

The WI Bicycle Transportation Plan 2020 provides an outline for improving and expanding the State Trunk Highway system with a strong consideration of bicycle accommodation. The current plan objective recommends suitable space for bicyclists when developing and improving roadway projects within the Town of Round Lake.

 

 

Wisconsin State Highway Plan 2020

The WI State Highway Plan 2020 focuses on the 11,800 miles of State Trunk Highway routes. The three areas that are emphasized in this plan include: pavement and bridge preservation, traffic movement, and safety.  These routes affect not just auto and commercial truck travel, but all modes of transportation; thus the importance of keeping the state trunk highways, dependable, safe, and efficient. The SHP 2020 identifies no traffic congestion in the next 20 years on the highways within the Town of Round Lake. There are no major improvements or changes to the State Highway routes in this plan for the Town of Round Lake.

 

 

Corridors 2020

The state of Wisconsin is a plan designed to provide essential links to employment and population centers around the state. It is composed of two elements: a backbone system of multilane divided highways connecting all major population and economic centers with each other and to the national highway network; a connector system of two and four lane highways connecting other significant economic and tourism centers to the backbone system. By the year 2020, the total mileage in the Corridors 2020 system will be expanded to 3200 miles. Currently there are no improvements planned for the Town of Round Lake.

 

 

Rustic Road Program

The Rustic Road Program was created in 1973 by the State Legislature to preserve what remains of Wisconsin’s scenic, lightly traveled back roads for the enjoyment of motorists, hikers and bicyclists. Local governments and communities benefit by Rustic Road designation by providing travelers an additional incentive to visit. A Rustic Road may be dirt, gravel or paved road. There are certain eligibility requirements for the designation of a rustic road. Currently there is no Rustic Road in the Town of Round Lake.

 

Color Tours

The Hayward Lakes Visitors and Convention Bureau in conjunction with the U.S. Forest Service have created 3 Color Tours for the county which pass along roads that have outstanding fall colors. Rout One passes through the Town of Round Lake on the following roads: Twin Lakes Road, County Road “A”, State Highway #77, County Road “S”, Moose Lake Road, also known as Forest Road #164, Forest Road # 164, to County Road “B”, then McClain Road, and Twin Lakes Road.

 

 

Transportation Goals and Objectives:       

 

Goal:   A safe and efficient transportation system that accommodates the movement of both people and goods while preserving the woodland character of the Town.

 

Objective1:    Develop, maintain and improve roads to meet the Town’s future transportation needs and safety requirements.

Action 1:        Annually review and update road construction standards and ordinances.

Action 2:        Consider town road construction standards to reflect rural character, where appropriate.

Action 3:        Maintain the current roads in the Town of Round Lake to meet town standards.

Action 4:        Review all roads to ensure access of all emergency, service, and maintenance vehicles.

Action 5:        Encourage public safety education & awareness of multi-use roadway systems.

Action 6:        Annually request and review traffic accident information from Sawyer County Sheriff’s department to identify and mitigate hazards.

 

Objective 2: Maintain a safe and efficient roadway system throughout the town.

Action 1:        Identify Town roads which are most likely to bear increased traffic as a result of projected development and recommend priorities for improvement and maintenance by the Town Board.

Action 2:        Develop plans that improve traffic patterns and safety of routes that may be impacted by additional residential and commercial development.

Action 3:        Coordinate transportation and land use planning with adjacent municipalities and Sawyer County for sound traffic planning and maintenance.

Action 4:        Maintain the acceptances of new roads and driveways in the Town of Round Lake to meet town standards.

Action 5:        Encourage private developers to develop roads under private ownership to town standards.

Action 6:        Investigate the use of special assessment to upgrade private roads to town standards when requested by property owners.

Action 7:        Develop guidelines for the ceding of private roads to the town.

 

Objective 3: Develop and maintain a system of signage and orientation markers.

            Action 1:        Establish guidelines for all signs as it relates to size, number, location, style, lighting, and maintenance.

            Action 2:        Establish standards that are informative, uniform in appearance and compatible with the rural character of the town.

 

Objective 4: Coordinate with other jurisdictions and providers in enhancing transit and disabled transit services.

Action 1:        Meet with Sawyer County/LCO Transit Commission on route enhancements throughout the town.

Action 2:        Encourage existing transit operators to continue and expand ambulatory and non-ambulatory service to the town.

Action 3:        Communicate and educate public on available transportation options.

 

Objective 5: Support the initiation and further development of walking, bicycling and other modes of transportation.

Action 1:        Work with county, regional efforts, neighboring towns, local clubs and private landowners to create and maintain alternative transportation modes.

Action 2:        Consider the costs of bike lanes in all new road construction and improvements and apply if feasible.

Action 3:        Work with county, neighboring towns, local clubs and private landowners to develop and maintain snowmobile and ATV trails within the Town.

Action 4:        Provide access to maps of trails within the Town.

Action 5:        Ensure that appropriate signage is provided for all trails.

 

Objective 6: Investigate and consider the designation of a “rustic road” within the Town coordinating with adjacent township(s).