Interstate 41 Speed May Be Cut in Outagamie County

The Outagamie County Board is expected to vote on a
potential referendum that would drop the speed limit on Interstate 41 from
seventy miles per hour to fifty-five. The proposal calls for the reduction in
speed to remain in place until the state widens the stretch of highway between
Grand Chute and Wrightstown – due to the high number of crashes in that area. 

Any expansion of the interstate could take up to ten years to complete. Traffic
backups in that area are also common, especially in areas where three lanes are
cut to two. Grand Chute saw 567 accidents on the interstate between August 2016
and this past September, with another 323 crashes in Appleton. The DOT will conduct an operational
and safety study of the area, which will take about six months. The county
board will address the issue later this month.