STOUGHTON, Wis. -- Proposals to pave over farmland through Stoughton to create a U.S. Highway 51 bypass around the city aren't sitting well with residents in the affected area, which is to be expected but their reason isn’t.

A group of landowners and concerned citizens said their debate about the plan isn't an example of "not in my back yard" defensiveness. Rather, they question whether traffic volume will really be great enough down the road to warrant the bypass, which they say is suggested based on traffic estimates looking 30 years forward.

"We don't know that there's been ample justification for a bypass of Stoughton at all," said homeowner Tim Cook. "To steal a phrase, it's a road to nowhere."

Cook said he believes that some improvements do need to be made to the highway between McFarland and Stoughton in light of the growing number of crashes along the roadway. However, only one option of the five the state Department of Transportation is considering as part of a corridor study focuses solely on safety improvements, like turn lanes and enhanced intersections. Four other options involve adding travel lanes and a bypass of some sort, WISC-TV reported.

Organic farmer Scott Trautman said those options involve using some of his land -- as much as 20 acres -- and would force him out.

"We'd be done. We barely have enough land as it is. And we do a heck of a job with what we have, but we graze our cattle," Trautman said. "You can't have cattle around a four-lane highway. We can't be crossing that road. That's for sure."

Trautman said he also fears more will be lost than just his farm if a road goes in.

"We have our own personality here, and when we start running big roads through here, we start to lose that," he said.

DOT officials said that they don't have money or approval for the project yet and they're merely studying the issue. They said that hearing from residents is key to their efforts.

"Public input is critical to the department's planning process. We look forward to working in partnership with local citizens, organizations and communities as the department studies multiple alternatives within the Stoughton to McFarland corridor," said Michael Hoelker, the southwest regional planning supervisor for the DOT.

Results of the corridor study should be released in summer 2011.