Public Concerns
A public survey was created and made available to the public at: https://forms.gle/VMUkcrCUZjdBacip7
955 residents responded as of December 8, 2022.
Summary Result: Rail congestion is a concern for 95% of the survey respondents followed by safety, noise and pollution.
Summary Result: 95% of the community respondents have been blocked by rail traffic in the past 30 days.
Summary Result: Almost 60% of the community respondents have experienced blockages over 20 minutes in the past 30 days.
Summary Result: Almost 75% of the community wait time at a crossing is between 5 and 20 minutes.
Summary Result: 85% of the community have missed important appointments due to blocked crossings.
Summary Result: Almost 95% of the community engages in dangerous safety behavior to avoid blocked crossings. Standard safety measures do not address this behavior issue that causes over 70% of grade crossing fatalities according to the FRA.
Summary Result: More than 85% change travel plans to address rail crossings. However, no one has information about when they will be delayed or for how long. The crossings are blocked only about 6% of the time. This means, 85% of the time residents alter their plans even though there is a 94% chance that they will not be blocked at a crossing.
Summary Result: 95% of the impact is people driving their own vehicle.
Summary Result: 98% of the community think that rail and truck traffic is important.
Summary Result: About 18% of the Wisconsin Rapids residents also experience the congestion problems in neighboring communities.