JUDA - "What's going on here again?"
That's what Green County Sheriff Jeff Skatrud remembers saying, shaking his head, to the Juda fire chief after they arrived the evening of Friday Jan. 27 to the scene of a fatal crash on Wisconsin 11/81 just east of Juda.
Again.
Six people have died in three crashes in the past year along this strip of highway between Bagley Road and County OK. The accidents all happened on a stretch of road about the length of a football field.
In March, three people died in a two-vehicle collision here. Douglas and Cynthia Spooner, both 40, and Penny Sprague, 41, died in the accident that also seriously injured the Spooner's son, Clay. Toxicology results later showed Sprague had a blood-alcohol concentration well above the legal limit.
In April, a 25-year-old Beloit man died here after leading police on a high-speed chase from the scene of an attempted robbery in downtown Monroe. While swerving to avoid stop sticks laid by police, Jonathan E. Guadarrama lost control of the minivan he was driving and was ejected to his death.
Most recently, a head-on collision in the same stretch of road killed Arthur W. Hafferkamp, 85, of rural Sharon, and Israel Lara, 37, of Monroe. Hafferkamp was driving on the wrong side of the road, but authorities say alcohol doesn't appear to have been a contributing factor.
Debris from the accident still litters the shoulder of the highway: a floor mat, a mangled license plate, splintered car parts. There's a bouquet of plastic flowers, and up the road, someone has erected a white wooden cross in memory of "Cindy and Doug." A blue ribbon bow clings to the cross, having survived months of sun, rain and snow.
Mike McCullough runs an 1,100-acre dairy and livestock farm nearby, just south of Wis. 11/81 off County OK. He remembers a state trooper once calling the road "suicide alley."
The deadliness of the highway reaches beyond the past year and this specific stretch. Skatrud can reel off accident after accident from memory. When it comes to traffic injuries and fatalities, Wis. 11 "generally trumps everything else," he said.
Curse or coincidence?
Skatrud and Jeff Wunschel, highway commissioner, agree the various circumstances leading to the three accidents of the past year don't appear to be related.
But Skatrud can't shake the terrible coincidence of this many deaths. He says the accidents will be a topic of discussion at the quarterly Green County Traffic Safety Commission meeting on March 15.
"We do recognize the fact that it's a bad spot. We don't know why, though," Skatrud said. "The visibility is good. The shoulder is wide. It wasn't raining or snowing. Patrol-wise, there's plenty of enforcement. The state patrol works it quite heavily."
The road isn't riddled with potholes or perilous curves, either.
Wis. 11/81 was totally reconstructed in the early 1970s, according to Wunschel. Highway crews "cut the knobs off the hills," he said, and aligned the geometry of the road for a smooth drive. The highway was resurfaced with blacktop asphalt in 2000, and in 2010, coated with a sealant to retain skid resistance and prevent oxidation.
"It's a real good surface," he said.
Maybe too good.
McCullough is frustrated with the drivers along the highway who disregard the speed limit and ignore turn signals on farm equipment.
"The speed limit is 55, but it's open, flat road. When people get on open, flat roads, they want to roll again," he said. "A lot of nonlocal people seem to think the speed limit is 65 or better."
McCullough said he's been passed on the right and passed on the left, and one time, a driver even dangerously swerved around him while he was trying to make a left turn with some farm equipment.
Widening the road to four lanes isn't the answer, he said, and the state patrol and county deputies "can only do so much."
The problem, as he sees it, is that a convenient thoroughfare from Dubuque to Janesville is also used by local farmers.
"This still is a rural highway," McCullough said.
He was at a neighbor's farm the night of the crash on Jan. 27 and says he wasn't shocked when he heard news of the crash.
"Was I surprised? No. It was like, here we go again."
That's what Green County Sheriff Jeff Skatrud remembers saying, shaking his head, to the Juda fire chief after they arrived the evening of Friday Jan. 27 to the scene of a fatal crash on Wisconsin 11/81 just east of Juda.
Again.
Six people have died in three crashes in the past year along this strip of highway between Bagley Road and County OK. The accidents all happened on a stretch of road about the length of a football field.
In March, three people died in a two-vehicle collision here. Douglas and Cynthia Spooner, both 40, and Penny Sprague, 41, died in the accident that also seriously injured the Spooner's son, Clay. Toxicology results later showed Sprague had a blood-alcohol concentration well above the legal limit.
In April, a 25-year-old Beloit man died here after leading police on a high-speed chase from the scene of an attempted robbery in downtown Monroe. While swerving to avoid stop sticks laid by police, Jonathan E. Guadarrama lost control of the minivan he was driving and was ejected to his death.
Most recently, a head-on collision in the same stretch of road killed Arthur W. Hafferkamp, 85, of rural Sharon, and Israel Lara, 37, of Monroe. Hafferkamp was driving on the wrong side of the road, but authorities say alcohol doesn't appear to have been a contributing factor.
Debris from the accident still litters the shoulder of the highway: a floor mat, a mangled license plate, splintered car parts. There's a bouquet of plastic flowers, and up the road, someone has erected a white wooden cross in memory of "Cindy and Doug." A blue ribbon bow clings to the cross, having survived months of sun, rain and snow.
Mike McCullough runs an 1,100-acre dairy and livestock farm nearby, just south of Wis. 11/81 off County OK. He remembers a state trooper once calling the road "suicide alley."
The deadliness of the highway reaches beyond the past year and this specific stretch. Skatrud can reel off accident after accident from memory. When it comes to traffic injuries and fatalities, Wis. 11 "generally trumps everything else," he said.
Curse or coincidence?
Skatrud and Jeff Wunschel, highway commissioner, agree the various circumstances leading to the three accidents of the past year don't appear to be related.
But Skatrud can't shake the terrible coincidence of this many deaths. He says the accidents will be a topic of discussion at the quarterly Green County Traffic Safety Commission meeting on March 15.
"We do recognize the fact that it's a bad spot. We don't know why, though," Skatrud said. "The visibility is good. The shoulder is wide. It wasn't raining or snowing. Patrol-wise, there's plenty of enforcement. The state patrol works it quite heavily."
The road isn't riddled with potholes or perilous curves, either.
Wis. 11/81 was totally reconstructed in the early 1970s, according to Wunschel. Highway crews "cut the knobs off the hills," he said, and aligned the geometry of the road for a smooth drive. The highway was resurfaced with blacktop asphalt in 2000, and in 2010, coated with a sealant to retain skid resistance and prevent oxidation.
"It's a real good surface," he said.
Maybe too good.
McCullough is frustrated with the drivers along the highway who disregard the speed limit and ignore turn signals on farm equipment.
"The speed limit is 55, but it's open, flat road. When people get on open, flat roads, they want to roll again," he said. "A lot of nonlocal people seem to think the speed limit is 65 or better."
McCullough said he's been passed on the right and passed on the left, and one time, a driver even dangerously swerved around him while he was trying to make a left turn with some farm equipment.
Widening the road to four lanes isn't the answer, he said, and the state patrol and county deputies "can only do so much."
The problem, as he sees it, is that a convenient thoroughfare from Dubuque to Janesville is also used by local farmers.
"This still is a rural highway," McCullough said.
He was at a neighbor's farm the night of the crash on Jan. 27 and says he wasn't shocked when he heard news of the crash.
"Was I surprised? No. It was like, here we go again."