The Save Our Rustic Road group says they’ve made progress working with Vilas County to preserve the characteristics of County Highway K between Star Lake and Boulder Junction.
WXPR introduced you to the group and their mission last month.
Members of the Save Our Rustic Road group left a May 17th Vilas County Highway Committee frustrated and angry.
They felt the county wasn’t taking their concerns about the changes being made to the rustic road portion of County Highway K seriously.
Several people got up to talk about how the overzealous brushing was going too far off the roadside and was ruining the rustic characteristics of the road.
But communication between to the county and the group seems to have changed over the last couple of weeks.
“I think they had no idea how important the community valued the rustic road,” said Doug Scott. Scott lives just off the rustic road and was one of the people who started the Save Our Rustic Road group.
Scott says he and others with the group met with county board members and highway employees at the end of May about a path moving forward that both groups could agree on.
He called it productive.
“One of the most important agreements that we reached was that the tree tunnels and tree canopies are safe. That was huge because that’s kind of the hallmark feature of the rustic road that everyone really enjoyed,” said Scott.
Scott says the county will also hold off on any more brushing along the road until a committee can be formed to help guide decision about the road.
The committee will include community members.
“It’s a joint approach to the management of the road that we’re pretty excited about and hope that it plays out in a way that provides a safe road for people but preserves the rustic road characteristics that make the road so important to the community,” said Scott.
Scott says there’s still a lot of work to be done. The next step is focusing on forming that committee.
But he’s encouraged about the future of the rustic road.
