Durst Road, A Community Effort
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Sue Moen
Green County General Superintendent Eric Wild, Green County Patrol Superintendent John Schumacher, New Glarus Parks Member Mark Pernitz, New Glarus Town Clerk/Treasurer Jesse Wahl, New Glarus Parks Member Mona Sue French, New Glarus Town Patrolman Ron Roesslein, New Glarus Town Park Chairman Harry Pulliam, Green County Hwy Commissioner/New Glarus Town Chairman Chris Narveson, Town Engineer Timothy Schleeper from Vierbicher.
The Durst Road reconstruction was a community effort in every sense of the word. The Town started working on the road two years ago, with tree clearing operation. We are blessed to have a Patrolman (Ron Roesslein) that can operate about any type of equipment and has managed this huge project from the beginning.
This year, the Town teamed with Green County Highway local forces to move approximately 4,000 cubic yards of dirt, both on-site and off-site, to Zentner Road, where it was used to shore up the side of Zentner Road making the road safer for travel. As a team, they replaced all but a couple of the culverts. With this team of local forces, the Town has been able to beat the engineers' (Vierbicher) estimate by half, saving the Town close to $600,000. The money saved was used to pave a portion of Farmers Grove Road.
Durst Road is also one of the first tests of the Town and Village's Extra Territorial Zoning (ETZ) agreement with a land division on the road. We are only one of 20 such agreements in the State of Wisconsin. This agreement lays out how many lots are allowed to stay in the Town and provides a smooth transition between urban and rural land uses. Truly a community agreement!
Finally, Durst Road is a continuation of the Town Parks plan for interconnecting trails in the town. The widening of the road with 5-foot walking and biking paths alongside the road is, again, truly a community gem which can be enjoyed the entire community. This is not the Towns first trail, as Valley View Road was completed a couple of years ago and the Town has secured a DNR grant for a separate trail along County NN, connecting to the New Glarus Woods State Park.
