Tony Menke is ready for one of those hot, dry Kansas summers. It’s the only way the work on the turnpike is going to get caught up.
Right now, the Kansas Turnpike’s “spaghetti bowl” project at the Emporia entrance is about a month and a half behind. If that doesn’t change, that would bring the entire project to a close around December of 2008.
Tony Menke, construction manager for the Emporia office of the Kansas Department of Transportation, said a lot will depend on what happens later this year.
“If we get a good winter, we could catch back up,” Menke said. “Or bad weather could push us back even further. A lot of it depends on this winter, how long we get to work before the snow flies.”
The project is intended to untangle the mess of access roads known locally as the “spaghetti bowl,” providing two roundabouts to help route traffic cleanly along U.S. Highway 50, Interstate 35 and the turnpike (see graphic, pg. 21). Five bridges will be replaced, including the Graphic Arts Road bridge over the turnpike, which is already out of service for nine months to a year.
Right now, KDOT workers are trying to finish the paving on the north side of U.S. 50 and the turnpike ramps, as well as build the walls needed to start work on the Graphic Arts bridge. Menke said traffic should be back on the north end of U.S. 50 by sometime this fall and that work on the toll plaza was nearly done as well.
Once traffic is back to normal on the north side of U.S. 50, KDOT will begin working on the south side. Both of those were originally included as pieces of a four-phase construction plan, but with so much wet weather, cold weather or both, the phasing has gone right out the window.
“It’s almost to an extent where we’re mixing and matching phases together,” Menke said. “It’s kind of phase one and a half.”
In addition to the south side of U.S. 50, workers also will be starting on I-35 where it connects to the toll plaza. Detours have not been announced yet.
Menke said the good news is that the existing detour onto Industrial Road should go away in a couple of weeks. That detour sends drivers right through the middle of another KDOT construction project, which is realigining I-35’s connection to Industrial Road.
“We’re going to start shifting the chaos out of town,” Menke joked.
Aerial photos taken July 10 show work progressing on the Kansas Turnpike toll plaza project, above, as well as re-aligning the northbound Interstate 35 exit at Industrial Road, right.
In the photos, the darker pavement is what exists now. The lighter roadways highlighted in yellow show the planned new pavement.
The above photo of the turnpike project, looking east toward Emporia, shows how a jumble of criss-crossed curves will change into mostly straightaway approaches. Driving into Emporia on U.S. Highway 50 from the west will bring drivers to a roundabout shown at the far right of the photo. A three-quarter turn around the roundabout take drivers to a straightaway to a second roundabout that will let them get onto I-35 or come just past halfway around to reach the access ramp to the new turnpike toll plaza.
Another big change is the exit ramp for northbound turnpike traffic, which will have a more gradual curve than the current ramp.
Meanwhile, crews are working on the northbound exit ramp from I-35 to Industrial Road as shown in the photo at right, which looks southwest.
The existing exit ramp is shown darker. The roadwork will move the ramp closer to the Dolly Madison bakery parking lot, which will allow drivers to use the traffic signal at 18th Avenue and Industrial Road between Burger King and Coburn’s restaurants.
admireed (anonymous) says...
Will be great when it is all finished but a kind of mess while being built.
July 18, 2007 at 3:25 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
daveedailey (anonymous) says...
You ought to drive it everyday. The truckers that get lost and the people who just can not figure it out. Kind of funny. I do hope they change the turnpike sign where you get on because it confuses people. If you notice, at the bottom of the sign it says EXIT ONLY. Most people think that is what it means to exit not to get on. More trucks get confused because of that sign. Also, I hope they reposition the signs going west on 50 before the Americus road because if you are coming on to 50 from that road, some of the signs actually block your view. People also need to realize that when a semi is turning to the north on the Americus road off of 50, there just might be a car beside the semi that you will not see until it is too late. Please wait for the semi to finish turning before pulling out on to 50 highway.
July 18, 2007 at 3:46 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )