TAKE A GOOD LOOK at the west side of Emporia. In a few years, you won’t recognize now-familiar scenery.
The changes have already begun.
Several weeks ago, work started on the new interchange for Interstate 35, the Kansas Turnpike and U.S. Highway 50. When the work is completed in a two years, everything about the west entrance to the city will have changed, including land use around the new highway routes.
That became apparent Wednesday when the city commission approved zoning for a big new commercial development tucked neatly into the corner of I-35 and the turnpike. Developers expect the shopping area to act like flypaper to capture some of the traffic that streams by Emporia on those highways.
Helping that process will be one of the roundabouts that will shuttle traffic among the three highways. That roundabout will have a direct connection to the retail plaza, just a few hundred feet to the north.
It is reasonable to think that the commercial development would make no sense at all without the highway project. The new stores would be stranded far from Highway 50 and far from the turnpike and I-35 exits. Now, the development will be one of the most visible parts of Emporia from the highways.
Just as the retail development relies on the road project to make it feasible, other changes in the community are likely to be prompted by the new shopping area.
The project could give a strong push to the city’s growth to the north and west and could lead to residential development west of the turnpike, perhaps even west of the Americus Road.
Where houses go, services must follow. The city will have to get serious about changing or moving Fire Station 2. Also, is it about time to start considering a branch library north of I-35?
Emporia seems poised for another of those intermittent growth spurts that can change the character and appearance of the whole community.
Take a deep breath and prepare to be swept along.