Summary
Marathon County Administration and key members of the Board Leadership are pushing to relocate the Marathon County Highway Facility (Garage) to Kronenwetter. This new facility would be located on Business 51 between Cedar Creek in Rothschild and Kowalski Road in Kronenwetter. Under the current plan, this would transfer traffic congestion and traffic safety issues from Wausau to Kronenwetter and Rothschild, while freeing up valuable Wausau real estate for either a new Ice Arena or other economic redevelopment.
In my opinion, the Village of Kronenwetter government should reject the current plan due to the unacceptable resulting traffic congestion and increased safety hazards. Many residents already feel that the Cedar Creek interchange is hazardous because of the sub-optimal ramps. The addition of the County Highway trucks would make the situation worse, especially during bad weather.
If Kronenwetter can successfully get a Kowalski Road -I39 interchange installed, with the support of Marathon County and Wausau, that would completely change the situation. For example, north bound traffic from Kronenwetter could access I39 at Kowalski Road, removing traffic load from the Cedar Creek interchange and reducing the safety hazards.
Kronenwetter would not receive property tax revenue from the proposed Marathon County Highway Facility, but should benefit from increased development with resulting increased property taxes due to the new Kowalski Road Interchange.
Motivations to Move the Highway Facility from West Street in Wausau
Several motivations have been discussed for relocating the Highway Facility from its current location at 1430 West Street in Wausau.
A: Traffic Congestion and Safety
As mentioned previously, the current relocation plan does not eliminate the congestion and safety problems, but simply moves them from Wausau to Kronenwetter and Rothschild.
These problems could potentially be solved at the West street site at a much lower cost by simply installing a traffic light at the intersection of West Street and 17th Avenue.
B: Space and Shape Available at West Street
The targeted lot size is about 24 acres. According to the Marathon County GIS system, the County owns approximately 14.5 acres along West Street (1430 West Street, 1308 West Street, and 1212 West Street).
In addition to the lack of the required space, the lots on West Street are apparently not deep enough to provide good traffic and parking flow on the site.
The proposed site in Kronenwetter would presumably meet the size and shape requirements required for the new facility.
C: Economic Development
If the County Highway Facility was only relocated to Kronenwetter after a new Kowalski Road – I39 interchange was installed, both Wausau and Kronenwetter would have the potential for an increase in economic development opportunities.
Relocation Site Information
It was stated at the January 9th, 2025 Joint HR, Finance, Property and Infrastructure Committee Meeting that the main landowner for the potential site acquisition for the proposed new highway facility is Wisconsin Public Service.
A search for land owned by Wisconsin Public Service meeting the size and location criteria specified during County Board meetings yields only 2 potential sites: The 2 lots in Kronenwetter east of Business 51 between Village Way and Gardner Park/Kowalski and approximately 160 acres located east of Knowlton. The Knowlton site does not meet the requirement for a central location with easy accessibility to the Highway system, making it highly likely that the intended site is the site in Kronenwetter.
This post is the opinion of David Baker
Paid for by Baker for Kronenwetter President