More than 45 years ago, a road trip helped determine Emporia’s future.
These days, it’s hard to imagine Emporia without the Interstate 35 bypass. A 2006 study even referred to the exchange as a “river of money” the city could readily tap for tourism dollars.
But at one time, the Emporia bypass was nearly ... well, bypassed.
Virgil Basgall, who was a fairly new city manager at the time, can still remember the close call. At one point, he said, the Kansas Highway Commission was looking at a route from Ottawa that would have gone south of Emporia, hitting what was then K-96 on its way to Wichita.
That couldn’t be allowed to happen. And so, one day in 1960 or ’61, a trio of Emporians decided to drive to Johnson County and talk to the one man who might have some pull — George Gagle, who represented the region on the highway commission and was the only Republican on the six-man panel.
It seemed like long odds, but it was worth trying.
One of the three was Fiske Marbut, a contractor who chaired the chamber of commerce’s highway committee and would later serve as mayor. For Marbut, the equation was simple: a growing Emporia needed a highway improvement.
The city had reached a population of 18,000 and had two growing colleges and bright industrial prospects. In a 1962 meeting, he would later note that 2,000 cars a day passed the intersection of Sixth Avenue and Commercial Street and that more congestion could be expected without a bypass.
The second traveler was Sam Mellinger, a rising political star and one of the most influential Republicans in Lyon County. A former county attorney and state legislator, he had been named chairman of the Republican State Committee.
Mellinger eventually would be named Republican National Committeeman for Kansas in 1964.
And then there was Basgall, who had become city manager in 1960, just one year after the highway commission first proposed its southern plan. With a highway advocate and an influential Republican in the car, Basgall’s role was clear.
“I was just the driver,” he said with a grin.
It was an uneventful drive from Emporia to Gagle’s home just outside Kansas City. When the party arrived, Basgall recalled, Gagle welcomed them and asked “Why are you here? We could have handled this with a telephone call and I could have told you what I’m going to do.”
Still, there was something to be said for the personal touch. The four men chatted for a little while and then Gagle asked to speak with Mellinger privately. The two talked alone for about 20 minutes. No one recorded exactly what they said to each other, but Gagle showed nothing but confidence when they emerged.
“He said, ‘Don’t worry about that,’” Basgall said, chuckling at the memory. “Five Democrats and one Republican and he said ‘Don’t worry about that.’”
As it turned out, Basgall had other things on his mind. Mellinger needed to go to Topeka, so Basgall dropped him off there. And then, 15 miles from Emporia, the car ran out of gas.
It was perhaps not the best omen for Marbut and Basgall.
“He just said ‘Get out and walk and find some gas for us,’” Basgall said.
Fortunately, Basgall didn’t have to walk far. A car quickly rolled up to where they had stopped and the driver popped out to help.
“I was in your predicament two months ago and somebody with a two-gallon can of gas in his trunk put it in and got me to where I could buy some gas,” the driver explained. “Since then, I’ve always carried two gallons of gas in my trunk.”
“He put it in our gas tank and wouldn’t take anything for it,” Basgall said. “Everyone went away happy.”
As it turned out, “everyone” would soon include Emporia. Gagle was right on the money. By 1962, momentum had moved away from the southern route and support was building for what was then called the “Highway 50 bypass” near Emporia.
By October of that year, the highway commission had given the new route its blessing. Emporia was on the map with work authorized to begin in 1964 —the same year Marbut became mayor.
A Gazette photo taken that year shows Marbut and Basgall looking over the blueprints.
Mellinger, whose quiet conversation had done so much, never got to see the final completion of I-35. He died in 1966 at the age of 52, long before the 10-mile section of I-35 east of Emporia was finished in 1977. The bypass itself, routing traffic on U.S. 50 around the north side of the city, was completed in 1967.
It’s now estimated that six million out-of-state vehicles drive through Kansas on I-35 and Interstate 70 every year. The Emporia bypass is now a linchpin of the highway system, the changeover point between the Kansas Turnpike and the free stretch of I-35 that runs toward Kansas City.
It’s also a popular shortcut for Emporia drivers, when construction allows.
One consequence of the new road was a tangle at the turnpike — the familiar overlapping of access roads at the Emporia entrance known as the “spaghetti bowl.”
Only in recent years have the Kansas Turnpike Authority and the Kansas Department of Transportation started to unsnarl the roads and create a cleaner exchange.
All in all, it was well worth the drive. That’s how Basgall sees it anyway. As city manager for 21 years, he had a front-row seat on the changes the highway brought to the city.
“I-35 means a lot to Emporia,” he said. “It sure does.”
Comments
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Posted by admireed (anonymous) on August 22, 2007 at 3:41 p.m. (Suggest removal)
In the late 50s and early 60s there was a group...actually a pertty large group of people who wanted the future of Emporia to be more than 18,000 people. They went to work and made the contacts and investments that bring us to whom we are today. None of them EVER asked to have a structure named for them. None of them bought naming rights with huge cash contributions. We are lucky to have people like these in our midst now. Although fewer, they still have the communities future first in mind.
Posted by scrutinizer (anonymous) on August 22, 2007 at 8:59 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I think the economic growth of Emporia has obviously been tied to the Interstate. Now, whether we have handled our growth well is another question. But, it has certainly made for a measure of prosperity and that probably balances out some of the problems caused by the growth.
Snake, you're trying to impune the reputation of a man that contributed mightily to one of Emporia's finest institutions when you imply that David Traylor stole goods from the City zoo. Want to back those allegations up? If you can't put up, how about you shut up? The zoo, in my opinion, is aptly named and honors the efforts of the person who cared most to bring it to its present state. Thank you, Mr. Traylor.
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