Local man killed, another seriously injured in Tuesday crash
By Jennifer Eisenbart
Editor
A two-vehicle crash at the Burlington bypass intersection of highways 83 and 36 Tuesday evening ended up with one dead and another being taken by Flight for Life helicopter.
Tyler Brott, 21, a Town of Burlington resident, died at the scene of the crash Tuesday night. The other driver, David Henning – also from the Town of Burlington – was taken by Flight for Life to Froedtert Hospital. His injuries were described by the Racine County Sheriff’s Office as serious but not life threatening.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the Brott and Henning families during this unfortunate tragedy,” said Sherriff Christopher Schmaling.
A 911 call came into the Racine County Communications Center at 6:51 p.m., stating that one vehicle had flipped over and one vehicle was possibly on fire.
When deputies and fire and rescue personnel arrived, they discovered that Brott had died in the crash.
Henning was transported by rescue to Aurora Memorial Hospital of Burlington and then taken by Flight for Life to Froedtert Hospital in Wauwatosa.
The accident scene Tuesday night showed the destructive nature of the crash. One vehicle had landed by a light pole, and was so mangled that a make and model couldn’t be identified at first glance.
The other vehicle, a pickup truck belonging to an area landscaping company, was also severely damaged, with an airbag deployed and the front end demolished.
The intersection remained closed until midnight, when investigators and the Racine County Sheriff’s department finally left the scene.
City of Burlington Mayor Bob Miller said Wednesday that the Wisconsin Department of Transportation will begin installation of left turn signals at the intersection next week.
Miller said this has been raised to the DOT in the past two years, but a shift in funding kept the turn signals from being installed sooner. The intersection has been the site of two accidents in the last month.
“It’s unfortunate that we had the amount of accidents we’ve had there before the situation is being addressed,” Miller said.
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During the design phase of the bypass the Town of Burlington was told they’d have input. Town Supervisor Jeff Lang addressed this, asking for this exact correction to be implemented into the design at that time. Although I am glad it is now going to be done, it’s unfortunate that it came to this before the correction is made.
“It’s unfortunate that we had the amount of accidents we’ve had there before the situation is being addressed,” Miller said”. WHY isn’t the Burlington Standard Press and Miller printing all the facts before using this towards their advantage of getting more “signals”? Such as “excessive speed”? I’m sorry for the loss, but thank GOD the accident wasn’t more tragic than it could have been. Left turn signal could not prevented what occurred when other laws are broken.
Yes but proper traffic engineering can reduce the risk of a driver violating traffic laws, if only to save their own neck.
The way the intersection is layed out it’s a mess. Why did they make one of the busiest parts of the bypass a traffic light and not a controlled access interchange? What’s with the fubar approach to the intersection if you’re travelling north on 83 towards the bypass? Nothing like an s-curve then whoops there’s an intersection. To the extent that the Racine County Sheriff is camped out on the bypass just about 24/7, maybe have them spend part of their time ensuring compliance with the traffic lights?