Local News

By Correne Martin

One block of Prairie du Chien traffic on South Illinois Street, from Webster Street to Cass Street, will become two-way, and parking will be prohibited on either side of that stretch of road, thanks to an ordinance approved Tuesday night by the Prairie du Chien Common Council. The change is effective Monday, Oct. 5.

According to Police Chief Chad Abram, the need for this adjustment came to the department’s attention through the common council.

“The aldermen in that district felt something needed to be done to alleviate congested traffic issues in the area of B.A. Kennedy Elementary School,” Abram said. “This is just the simplest solution we could provide for parents driving vehicles dropping off and picking up children at B.A. Kennedy. It’s a difficult area; the school is landlocked and there is no off-street parking. The long-term solution would be to look at creating a parking lot for staff.”

Wisconsin River Trail 

project gets $200,000 grant

By Ted Pennekamp

The Wisconsin River Trail Organization (WRTO) has been awarded a $200,000 Knowles Nelson Stewardship Grant to go towards starting construction of the Wisconsin River Trail, which will eventually run from Boscobel to Wauzeka. 

By Correne Martin

Demolition of the former Prairie du Chien Memorial Hospital facility on Taylor Street is targeted to begin sometime this week, according to Crossing Rivers Health officials. With that on the horizon, nearly every interior element from the old building was recently claimed by area school districts, cities and non-profit organizations free of charge for potential recycling and repurposing. An online auction, which ended Friday, sold commercial kitchen and other large hospital equipment to the general public.

The demolition contract was awarded Friday to Clayton County Recycling, of Monona, Iowa, who can start work as early as Tuesday, Sept. 29.

Prairie du Chien’s continued efforts toward improving the municipal infrastructure system will focus on the city’s water system over the next several months. Earlier this year, the city contracted with Municipal Management, Inc., of Madrid, Iowa, to do an extensive survey of the water system to identify any underground leaks. These leaks result in water loss, plus additional operational costs for the water system and, ultimately, the customers. Over 20 leaks were identified, with over half of them being classified as major.

“It appears that many of these leaks may have been caused by the extreme cold weather we experienced two winters ago,” Water Department Manager Larry Gates said. “Additionally, we have an old system, with some of the water services dating back to the 1940s. The water department will make every attempt to repair these water leaks in a timely fashion to decrease the amount of unaccounted water.”