Traffic center faces opposition
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JANESVILLE — It would be a good thing for local law enforcement officers to have a safe place to practice highway maneuvers.
But some people living near the Southern Wisconsin Regional Airport don’t think screaming sirens and squealing tires will be good for their neighborhood.
Blackhawk Technical College has plans for a 14,000-square-foot traffic safety center that will provide classroom space and driving simulation within the airport campus on Highway 51. An adjacent vehicle-training course on 38 acres will allow drivers to drill in emergency vehicles.
Neighbors don’t oppose a safety center, said Dean Pearson, 3508 S. Oakhill Road.
But Pearson lives just north of the fence around the airport, and he doesn’t want to hear sirens and smell diesel fumes all day, he said.
“It’s going to be ridiculous,” Pearson said. “You just don’t do it to a neighborhood.”
Pearson collected 20 signatures from neighbors opposing the center.
Granted, residents already hear jets taking off and landing at the airport. But the loud noise only lasts a few minutes at a time, said Keith Thompson, 3304 S. Oakhill Road.
“AirFest is a little different, but it’s just a couple of days and I enjoy it,” Thompson said.
Pearson said the center would be “unbearable” and “smash” property taxes in what he describes as a quiet, rural neighborhood.
“It’s right outside my back door,” Pearson said. “There’s going to be semi trucks. The noise all day long, the diesel smell and pollution and the screaming sirens right next to that.”
Len Walker, BTC’s director of institutional advancement, said local law enforcement agencies “desperately need” a safe place for training.
Emergency vehicles will train on a 7/8-mile track at speeds under 45 mph, Walker said. The drivers will turn on sirens as needed during training, he said.
Semi-trailer truck training will be done mostly in simulation, Walker said.
BTC hosted two neighborhood information sessions on the subject in February. Both were “poorly” attended, he said.
The project is certainly not a done deal, Walker said. Over the next few months, architects will finalize plans, and college officials will try to determine if the proposed center would be self-sufficient, he said.
Walker estimates it would cost $5 million to build the project. The safety center—and its operations if it opens—would be paid for with grants, training fees and private donations, Walker said.
Since getting public input, planners have focused on controlling lights at the center and being sensitive about the hours of operation, Walker said.
Once officials nail down plans for the center, BTC will host more neighborhood sessions, he said. Construction could start next spring at the earliest, Walker said.
Jun 21, 2008 at 6:42 p.m.
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Just a quick after thought OfficerFriendly1. Maybe Town of Beloit PD would have fewer accidents if they trained on something other than driving in circles.
Jun 21, 2008 at 6:21 p.m.
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I encourage BTC to move ahead with the idea. Police, Fire, EMS do not perform their daily duty on one-way ovals. There are a lot of distractions (lights, sirens, radios) and adrenaline flowing when emergency responses are taking place. If realistic training prevents one bad accident with permanent serious injuries, it might save the public from paying a multi-million dollar lawsuit. Those cost a lot of tax dollars too. The Airport is a good location for the track. Besides, homes next to Airports are not a good mix. The track might deter others from building homes where they do not belong.
Jun 13, 2008 at 8:12 a.m.
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If their not "gonna use it 8-10 hrs a day 5 days week year round" then they should have no problem booking Blackhawk Farms Raceway. They have been using that facility for years. My issue is not the noise it's the price tag! $5 million? I like how they say it "would be paid for with grants, training fees and private donations" but don't give the break down of each. Where do you think grants come from? TAXES that's where! In a primarily "no chase" law enforcement community due to lawsuits, why build a $5 million facility to teach law enforcement how to drive at speeds less than 45 mph? If they don't know how to do that already then they should find a new line of work. Beloit Township PD sure seems to have a lot of squad accidents. Maybe they could fund the track with all of the towing fees they have collected over the years.
Jun 13, 2008 at 1 a.m.
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officerfriendly, problem with Blackhawk Farms is that its pretty booked up usually.
Kawisixer is right though. Its just the same people who bitched and moaned when that atv park was proposed. Pearson is whining about the "diesel smell" but isnt there a recycler right there also? Hate to tell him its not like they are gonna use it 8-10 hrs a day 5 days week year round.
Jun 12, 2008 at 10:33 a.m.
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This "not in my back yard" crying is really getting old. These are the same group of people that shut down a very fun and successful small ATV track on land near there, and the owners bent over backwards to try and make these people happy. They built their house on land adjacent to an airport.they have to accept there is going to be noise, would we hold back a financially significant airport related expansion or function just bacause these people don't like it? We really have to think about the greater good and this facility would be something very good for the area. It would bring in students from other schools who may decide to transfer to Blackhawk, and it would bring in visitors. The rhetoric of people is really getting old. People build a house on cheap land next to an interstate and we are supposed to build them a noise wall, people buy house land next to land they know is zoned commercial and then want things in return when businesses try to use that land as designed. it's rediculous!
Jun 12, 2008 at 6:58 a.m.
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Blackhawk Farms Raceway could be rented quite a few times for $5 million. The neighbors there are already used to the noise.
Jun 11, 2008 at 4:33 p.m.
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I think he means they support the IDEA of a safety center, but not the idea of being NEXT TO a safety center.
In any case, calling this a neighborhood is, shall we say, generous.
Jun 11, 2008 at 2:40 p.m.
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It kills me when people living next to an airport complain about noise.
Jun 11, 2008 at 2:36 p.m.
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One sentence says "Neighbors don’t oppose a safety center", and another says "Pearson collected 20 signatures from neighbors opposing the center." What?
Jun 11, 2008 at 1:13 p.m.
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Is it DEAN Pearson (article) or DREW Pearson (graphic)? Neither is in the phone book (there's a BEN Pearson at that address, though).
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In any case, we should be sensitive to location concerns to the extent possible, but this is already an airport. This seems to be the only adjacent residential property to the proposed site. There's a farmhouse to the south of the site (gray box on the graphic), which is probably grandfathered in. I don't know what its status is, but it's likely slated for eventual acquisition. In any case, the remaining private property seems to be either agricultural or commercial.
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Would an earthen berm (like at the Wal-Mart site) help?
Jun 11, 2008 at 12:05 p.m.
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This seems to be typical of about everything that is proposed in this area. Its a great idea to have but don't put it in my backyard. Lets suck it up people. Other people own that land and can do with it what they please!!! Petition or no petition. I'm so sick of it. Need refineries, not in my backyard. Need ethanol plant, not in my backyard. Need windfarms, not in my backyard. I'm about to puke.
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