REMAKING LAKE HALLIE

By Chris Vetter

Chippewa Falls News Bureau

LAKE HALLIE – Kathy Bernier envisions the future of Business 53 having a more main street vibe, slowing down traffic and having more shopping opportunities.

Bernier, a member of the Lake Hallie village board, said that the road’s use has changed significantly since the U.S. 53 bypass opened. When the state turns over the road to the village, Bernier said it will be a good time to re-examine the thoroughfare.

“It would be nice if we made it more of a hometown (road),” she said. “We could pretty it up a bit, and make it more of a ‘welcome to Lake Hallie’ sort of thing, and make it more of a downtown shopping district.”

One way to do that is slow down traffic on the road, by dropping the speed limit from 50 mph. Other changes could include landscaping along the road and decorative light posts that are welcoming to visitors.

Bernier envisions a few more specialty shops and maybe fine dining restaurants along the road as the route develops over time.

“Basically, it was car dealership after car dealership,” she said.

Charlie Walker, director of the Chippewa County Economic Development Corporation, shares Bernier’s future vision of the corridor.

“Hallie doesn’t really have a downtown, so it would be my suggestion to remodel Business 53 into a central business district,” Walker said. “They could make it more of a destination route. It should be a corridor that gives it a sense of the core of Lake Hallie.”

Walker said he would recommend that village leaders get feedback from the existing businesses along the route and see what type of growth and changes they would like to see there.

“Without a plan, it’s going to look a lot like open fields and closed businesses,” he said.

Walker agreed that one of the first changes to the corridor should be dropping the speed limit.

“When you slow traffic down, you can get your traffic counts and a nice place to open a business,” he said.

However, businesses along the route aren’t so sure that slowing traffic is a good idea. Roy Gotter, co-owner of Sport Motors Harley Davidson, said he sees a lot of traffic from people who are traveling to and from northern Eau Claire, and those drivers opted to take Business 53 instead of the bypass.

“I think if you slow down the traffic a lot, it will encourage more people to take the bypass,” Gotter said. “I’m afraid it would hurt our business. A lot of times, we catch people who were just driving by. If you slow it down a lot, you’ll lose those people.”

Gotter said he has no plans on moving his store, even though he acknowledges that traffic count is definitely down. He isn’t sure what, if any, role the village should take in renovating the corridor.

Terry Moulton, owner of Mouldy’s Archery & Tackle, said he has no plans to relocate closer to the bypass, either.

“It’s a good location, next to Wal-Mart,” Moulton said. “A lot of traffic is generated from that store.”

Moulton agreed with Gotter that trying to slow traffic down from the present 50 mph would not be beneficial.

“I don’t think that would make a difference, business-wise,” Moulton said. “That road can definitely handle 50 mph.”

Bernier said the village hasn’t done a traffic study to show the drop in usage on Business 53.

“Our best ‘guess-timate’ is its well below 50 percent of what it used to be,” Bernier said. “It is significantly reduced.”

The state plans to rebuild the road and turn it  over to the village in 2014. However, Bernier said the village is requesting the Department of Transportation turn the road over to the village in 2011, pay the village to take the road, and the village would then pay the cost for the road improvements.

Greener Grass Systems, which has been located west of Business 53 near Highway OO, moved to their new site Sept. 25 northeast of the Melby exit off U.S. 53. President Wayne Bollinger said the move made sense for the company.

“We wanted the traffic count,” Bollinger said. “Everyone I run into has seen our building. Before, that wasn’t the case. It’s very good access for us.”

Bollinger said the new building is on a 10.5 acre site, and the space gave them room to add more attractions for shoppers.

“We’ve added some greenhouses in this location and some water features,” Bollinger said. “We’ve made it a destination where people can stop and meander, and get ideas.”

Bollinger said the main building at their former site was destroyed in a fire last year, but other buildings there are still being used, and the company will still dispatch some of its trucks from the former location.

Village President Pete Lehmann said there are only a couple of empty car lots along the Business 53 corridor. He noted that other businesses have been doing well, even those not close to the new bypass.

“We’ve been trying to bring in businesses that complement our existing businesses,” Lehmann said. “Right now, it seems everything is complementing each other well.”