A coalition representing environmental, business and agricultural interests has asked the state Department of Transportation to reconsider a proposed Highway 10 route that would cross the Plover River below Jordan County Park.
The route is an alternative being considered by the DOT for a Stevens Point bypass.
The coalition, called the River Heritage Committee, said the four-lane road crossing "would change forever the character of the Plover River and bisect farms, seriously affecting agriculture." Also, said the committee, the crossing would be upstream from Stevens Point's wells, endangering the city's water supply.
George Rogers, president of the committee, said a letter similar to the one sent to the DOT has gone to the state Department of Natural Resources, asking for its help in opposing the proposal.
In its letters to the state agencies the committee said, "The Plover has accurately been called a wilderness stream in the backyard of an urban area, a rarity in the 21st century. It is extensively used by canoeists, fishers and other recreationists. The valley is a haven for wildlife, ranging from otters to eagles, and it provides habitat for the state-threatened wood turtle. Its pristine nature in such close proximity to a city is almost unique in Wisconsin, and this highway crossing would destroy its integrity."
Stevens Point's water comes from wells in the Plover River valley, and the committee cited findings by the Central Wisconsin Ground Water Center that pumping draws water out of the river and into the wells. "A toxic spill, salts, road oils and other contaminants entering the river at the Highway 10 crossing," said the letters, "could ruin the drinking water of a minimum of 25,000 people."
Acknowledging that the present Highway 10 route through Stevens Point presents problems, the letters state that "traffic problems come and go but degradation of a great river would affect the quality of life here for generations... Our citizens challenge the assumption that the community must accept high-speed bypasses regardless of the cost to the environment."
Along with its letters, the River Heritage Committee sent resolutions opposing the Plover River crossing adopted by the Hull Town Board, the Aldo Leopold Audubon Society, the Izaak Walton League, the Portage County Park Commission and the Plover River Alliance.
Committee members are Bruce Adamski, Paul Adamski, Gregory Disher, Barbara Gifford, Kent Hall, Daniel Kohler, Chris Northwood, Thomas Overholt, William Peterson, Christine Thomas, Daniel Trainer, Robert Worth, Rick Wilke, Gregory Wysocki and Rogers.
Environmental organizations represented by the committee members include the Plover River Alliance, the Izaak Walton League, the Aldo Leopold Audubon Society, the McDill Inland Lake Protection District, the North Central Conservancy Trust, the Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin, People for Green Space, the Portage County Park Commission and the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point College of Natural Resources.