Direct road to hospital entrance finally approved
Looking from the Crossing Rivers Health main entrance toward Highway 18/35, a new road is being constructed by Owen’s Excavating. Work started early last week and is expected to be complete in six to eight weeks. (Photo by Correne Martin)
By Correne Martin
Crossing Rivers Health received final approval a few months ago from the Federal Aviation Administration to finally construct a direct entry road from Highway 18/35 to the main entrance of the hospital. The ingress will start where the old Stark property once stood, according to CEO Bill Sexton.
The roadway will be named Breitbach Boulevard after the late Dave Breitbach who was the hospital’s CFO for 22 years before his untimely death in June 2017. Sexton said it will be lit with typical street lamps and signage will be moved and placed on the highway accordingly.
“We’re very grateful to Rep. Ron Kind and former Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch for their support of this,” Sexton stated. “When we purchased the property, we always thought we’d have access from there.”
However, a straight-aligned road was not permitted due to the property’s proximity to the municipal airport and its air space. So patients entering and exiting the new medical center (and adajacent Crossing Rivers Clinic that opened in 2014) were expected to turn at Southtown Lane by Walmart and then take Selch Road to the main entrance.
Sexton said this was especially confusing for people new to the community. He remarked that the Walmart intersection is already a high-traffic, naturally congested area, and “if there were ever an accident at the stop light by Walmart, there would be no access to the hospital.”
When Crossing Rivers moved from the middle of Prairie du Chien to the south edge in 2015, the hospital had already been in talks for about three years with agencies like the Bureau of Aeronautics, the Department of Transportation, the city and its airport commission and other channels leading to the FAA.
With persistence and about seven years of meetings and lobbying, the FAA made the final sign-off for the road to be constructed.
“We ended up trading a piece of property they didn’t have an (avigation) easement on, for a piece they did have an easement on,” Sexton noted.
Crossing Rivers has contracted Vierbicher Associates to oversee the project and Owen’s Excavating, out of Hazel Green, is the main contractor. Sexton said they expect the roadway to be complete in about six to eight weeks.
Sexton also explained that there will be no added lanes to Highway 18/35, just general curb access. Currently, there’s a turning lane for traffic coming from the north to the south, and otherwise two lanes of traffic to assist in the flow of motorists turning in and out of the new path to Crossing Rivers Health. Drivers leaving from the new road will only be allowed to exit to the right. If they wish to exit to the south, they’ll need to take Selch Road to the south.
