The Wisconsin Department of Transportation opposes a local group’s efforts to relocate road signs to a bridge named in honor of a Lena soldier killed in action in 2004.
The bridge crosses Kelly Brook on state Highway 141, north of Lena. In 2006, a sign installed on Kottke Lane, at least 200 feet from the bridge, proclaimed it the SPC Nichole M. Frye Memorial Bridge. Frye was the first female special operations soldier killed in combat during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
The Rolling Thunder Wis. Chapter 3 motorcycle club this year worked with State Rep. Jeff Mursau, R-Crivitz, to author legislation to have the signs attached to the bridge.
The DOT, however, wants to keep the sign out of the Highway 141 right of way, said Kim Rudat, a regional spokesman.
“You don’t put those (kind of) signs on bridges,” Rudat said Tuesday.
Too much information can distract motorists, so signs denoting a municipality’s boundary or a natural feature such as Kelly Brook are permitted, but generally the fewer signs the better, he said.
Each August, the motorcycle club holds a scholarship fundraiser ride for the Lena High School band program in memory of Frye, who had been a band member.
The ride crosses the bridge but “no one would know it’s named for her because there’s no sign,” said Bob Notz, vice president of the club, whose nephew was engaged to Frye at the time of her death.
Notz suggested the sign could be attached on the same posts that now hold Kelly Brook signs, and Rolling Thunder has agreed to pay for the signs and installation.
“We wouldn’t do that,” Rudat said.
Notz also said other state highway bridges have signs, but Rudat said the state follows federal highway signage policy, and any nonconforming signs on bridges will not be replaced when they are removed due to their weathered condition.
A public hearing was held last week on Mursau’s bill (AB 672), and the DOT registered against it.
“They’re opposed to any sign across the state unless it’s a road marker,” Mursau said. “It’s a four-lane highway, and at the speed limit, another sign would be a distraction (according to DOT).”
AB 672 has not been scheduled for a vote in the Assembly Transportation Committee, but Mursau and Notz would like it passed so the signs can be installed before this year’s Frye ride.
Frye was 19 years old and a specialist in the U.S. Army Reserve’s 415th Civil Affairs Battalion when she was killed on Feb. 16, 2004.
She was driving a Humvee that had been recently “armored up” when it was struck by an improvised explosive device near Baqubah, Iraq, according to a posting on the fallenherosmemorial.com website attributed to Staff Sgt. Jimmy Struckhoff.
During her enlistment, Frye earned the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart, National Defense Service Medal and an Army Service Ribbon, according to the website.
Frye had been a waitress at Wayne’s Family Restaurant where she was remembered as someone who remained cool despite how busy things got.
“She certainly was. She was a very outstanding girl who would do anything for anybody,” said Margie Ebert, a cook at Wayne’s.
Wayne’s Family Restaurant sponsors an annual scholarship, in Frye’s honor, to a Lena High School graduate. The Brian Laviolette Foundation also sponsors an annual scholarship in Frye’s name for graduates interested in police or fire science or public service.
Attempts to contact Nichole’s parents, James and Lisa Frye, and her brother, William, for this story were unsuccessful.
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