| By Big Radio News Staff |

Janesville Police Chief Chad Pearson says with the Woodman’s Center coming next year, police seek to phase out youth drag racing that he says can make adjacent stretches of Milton Avenue loud, unruly and dangerous on summer nights.

Pearson says as the future Woodman’s Sports & Convention Center breaks ground at Uptown Janesville, its future as a draw for sports and convention tourism brings the city new motivation to tackle high-speed cruising along the commercial strip.

Pearson says the police department is working with the city manager and the engineering division on possible solutions to curb or end the use Milton Avenue as a cruising circuit.

In the past, police have tried with limited success to curb high-speed cruising on the 1-mile stretch. Some past measures have included changing the timing on lights and stepped up enforcement measures.

Police in the past have said the city has mulled policies that would enact an outright ban on circuit cruising on Milton Avenue, but the idea has never gotten past discussions of how such a ban would be enforced.

Pearson says city officials are concerned now that cruising on Milton Ave. can become an unattractive and dangerous spectacle in an area that’s now tapped to draw more families and tourism.

He points out that Woodman’s Center’s future presence as a large-scale sports and convention venue is a $50-million, public-private investment in the future of the city’s main retail corridor, and he thinks the city’s public policies should shepherd that investment.

Milton Avenue can have 25,000 vehicles a day, making it one of the busiest commercial traffic corridors in Rock County.