City of Viroqua continues effort to lower speed limit near golf course after DOT denial

Nov. 15, 2025

VIROQUA, Wis. — The Viroqua City Council is redoubling its efforts to convince the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (DOT) to lower the speed limit on a hazardous stretch of State Highway 14/61 near the Viroqua golf course, following a near-fatal accident and a previous rejection from the state agency.

The issue was a topic of discussion at this weeks Common Council meeting and the council voted to authorize staff to send a letter to the DOT Secretary, formally requesting that the agency reconsider its position and implement an immediate, interim speed reduction for safety reasons.

Why the City Seeks a Speed Reduction

The city’s concerns focus on a segment of Highway 14/61 located generally between the VFW property and the Vernon Estates mobile home park. Currently, the speed limit changes abruptly from 55 mph down to 35 mph, depending on the direction of travel. The city would like to see a staged reduction in speed at that end of town to give drivers time to adjust over a longer area.

City Administrator Nate Torres explained that local officials and residents have advocated for a change over the past 18 months due to conditions that make safe travel challenging. These issues include:

• Difficulty for motorists to safely enter and exit the roadway, especially at the golf course entrance.
• The road features a downhill slope and a curve that obscures the view and makes it difficult to gauge distance and velocity.
• The presence of a climbing lane means three lanes operate along this stretch, compounded by multiple driveways.
• One council member noted that turning left out of the golf course, particularly while driving a large vehicle like a plow truck, has resulted in close calls.

City Engineer Sarah Grainger noted that drivers tend to travel faster in this section, urging people to drive a little bit faster once they leave the in-town modifications that have successfully slowed down traffic.

DOT Rejects Local Request

After city staff, including the Police Chief Rick Niedfeldt, City Engineer Grainger, and Mayor Justin Running, advocated to the DOT, the agency conducted a speed study. State Senator Brad Pfaff’s office also advocated to the DOT on Viroqua’s behalf.

Despite these efforts, the DOT formally rejected the city’s request, stating that existing conditions did not meet the necessary thresholds or warrants to justify a reduction in the speed limit. Grainger explained that the DOT sometimes seeks to match the existing current driving speed, concluding that people were already traveling at that speed in the area.

The DOT indicated that while they have road improvement projects scheduled for the area, those are not anticipated until 2028 and 2030. Grainger noted confusion regarding potential future plans, stating that the DOT had mentioned implementing a two-way left-hand turn lane that would likely result in a 45 mph limit, but later suggested they might debate that plan as it would eliminate the climbing lane.

Police Chief Niedfeldt reiterated that this section of highway is under the DOT’s control, ending outside the city’s jurisdiction at Rusk Street.

Path Forward: Renewed Advocacy

The Viroqua Common Council unanimously approved a motion to continue pursuing the matter, agreeing to send a letter on behalf of the council to the DOT Secretary Christina Boardman to advocate for reconsideration.

City Administrator Torres outlined the strategy to pressure the DOT for an interim reduction in the speed limit until the planned safety improvements scheduled for 2028–2030 are implemented.

“What we’re looking for is the council to agree that sending this letter is okay on behalf of the council, not just myself,” said Mayor Running. “And I think just so you’re aware, we’ll send it to the D O T staff, any other additional staff members, including the governor, to try to get something going here.”

Additionally, staff suggested pressuring the Vernon County Highway Safety Committee to bring the issue forward, as input from law enforcement and a safety perspective can be another avenue to achieve the change.

As the city does not have unilateral control over the highway, the ongoing effort relies heavily on continuing to “make noise” about the dangerous nature of the road.