The Department of Transportation says they'll move forward with plans to address a high-crash rate section of Highway 51 near Merrill by constructing a bypass connecting North Star Road and County Road C.
But that decision has a local business owner so upset that he's walking to Madison to hopefully get the attention of Governor Scott Walker.
Raj Bhandari, owner of Buffalo Spirit Gas Station and Convenience Store says the the bypass would kill his business to possible customers traveling on Highway 51.
The DOT says the US 51/Lincoln County C/ North Star Road came in as one of the state's more frequent intersections for crashes based on a 2009 “5 Percent Report”. They say the majority of crashes happened when vehicles attempting to make a left turn from a side road onto US 51.
A DOT Spokesperson also says Bhandari has been aware of the bypass plans for several years, noting that even after a fire destroyed the business in 2009, Bhandari knowingly rebuilt at the same site.
Construction the bypass is scheduled to begin in the spring of 2013.
