WHITEWATER — Five weeks after a person on a motorized scooter was struck by another vehicle on Starin Road, the Whitewater Common Council on Tuesday night opted not to take any new action regarding safety along the corridor.
Pedestrians and vehicles fill the Starin Road corridor on the UW-Whitewater campus in February 2026.Â
GAZETTE FILE PHOTO
The city’s public works committee has also recommended not changing anything about the corridor at this time.
However, Alderman Neil Hicks, who sits on the public works committee, said that further research needs to be done, specifically with management of scooters in nearby communities, which includes keeping them off of sidewalks.
“At the end of the day, it’s very tragic what happened and I think everybody in this room and the city is sad to see anybody at all get hurt or any incident at all. But, at the same time I do want to approach it a little slower and not bring immediate action and use the big hammer to fix something that, I’m not going to say it’s not broken, but there’s a lot of variables about that specific incident,†Hicks said.
“There’s a number of other factors that played into this specific incident that we can also review to maybe fix it or make it better. I don’t think we need to make any specific changes to Starin Road at this time,†Hicks added.
On Feb. 11, a woman on a motorized scooter was struck by a Toyota Sienna in the 700 block of W. Starin Road. The woman on the scooter was taken to a ÌÇÐÄVlog´«Ã½ hospital with a left ankle injury, severe concussion and hairline fracture to the left side of her face.
In October 2024, Starin Road was closed for 11 days with traffic diverted to Prairie Street, and Schwager and Warhawk Drives. There were cameras placed, some with traffic counters, to collect data on pedestrian and traffic movement, on Schwager Drive and Main Street. Speed was also tracked.
The council opted not to make the pedestrian mall permanent in January 2025. However, the speed limit was reduced from 25 to 15 mph between Prince and Prairie streets. There were stop signs approved on Starin Road eastbound and westbound at N. Prince St., and eastbound and westbound at Warhawk Drive. Signs saying “Stop Here for Pedestrians†were also approved.â€
“I think some of the traffic culling measures we’ve put in place have been doing a great job,†Hicks said, adding “I didn’t think we needed to make any changes at this time but we can continue looking into other options to help not just pedestrians but scooters specifically.â€
City Manager John Weidl said he has been in contact with the office of UW-Whitewater Chancellor Corey King about the incident and the issue.
