State studies passing on US 50
The Gazette Staff
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Lyon and Chase counties’ portions of U.S. Highway 50 will be part of a $250,000 study scheduled to begin Monday from Emporia to Hutchinson.
The Kansas Department of Transportation study, expected to take 18 to 24 months to complete, will be on passing lanes on the 100 miles of the highway as it passes through five counties.
“While there are no funds available for constructing a four-lane highway, there is a potential to improve the passing lanes along the route,” a KDOT news release stated.
The study will help determine the locations and types of improvements that may be needed in the future, and how those changes would affect nearby homes, businesses, and natural areas.
“Improvements along U.S. 50 would be designed to address the volume of traffic on the road and viable passing opportunities,” the release stated.
Opportunities for public comment will be available, including a survey at ktoc.net. A toll-free telephone number will be established for call-in comments, interviews will be done with truck drivers over the route, and information will be presented at meetings with local officials.
Traffic counters will be installed at selected locations beginning Monday and running through the end of November.
People who have questions about the study or the project may call Chris Hess, KDOT public involvement liaison, at (877) 550-5368, or David Greiser, North Central division public affairs manager, (785) 823-3754.
KDOT chose HDR of Kansas City to conduct the study.
Comments
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threecs (anonymous) says...
Fantastic! I've been nearly killed on that road twice in my life - vehicles in wrong lanes traveling at top speeds towards me - like freaky, bad dreams! Even though its better than it used to be, ask any EMT in Chase County about their experiences on highway 50 and you will know that it hasn't changed enough yet.
November 14, 2009 at 12:54 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
reddog (anonymous) says...
US 50 west of Emporia is the highest death count in the state. When the intermodle at Gardner gets started, there will be 10,000 trucks per day through Emporia. The Gardner intermodle will hire 13,000 people.
November 16, 2009 at 10:57 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
spectator (anonymous) says...
I've traveled W 50 for years and nothing's changed much. Just about three weeks ago, we had to hit the brakes and take to the shoulder because some dumb@$$ was trying to pass two semis at once. Visibility in any direction was not a problem and there was room that this moron could have moved back into the traffic lane between the trucks but he/she decided to mortally endanger us. Road rage? Oh yeah, I had a major dose that day.
November 17, 2009 at 7:38 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
mslater (anonymous) says...
YY4U,
LOL, you're dead on accurate! TOO funny, though, but I could guarantee you it would work!
November 17, 2009 at 10:04 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
biscuitboy (anonymous) says...
Nothing will bring about the money to four lane Hiway 50 any faster than ten thousand trucks a day in and out of the Gardner intermodal......not to mention the potential trickle down help to the economy. We better be hoping we really do see some of those trucks since we lost out on the intermodal.
November 18, 2009 at 7:14 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
truelovecharlie (anonymous) says...
Biscuitboy---my thoughts axactly! Whine, whine, whine--everyone wants solutions but they don't want the real answers. Give the truckers a reason to bypass Emporia na dthere goes many $$$ in revenue. Where will Emporia go if all they ever do is keep passing around the same money over and over. The more poeple passing through=more outside money coming in. Some of these dead-heads on here just seem to want to turn Emporia into an elite club that only select people can live, work and shop thee. Those same dead-heads whine because of lack of growth. I disagree with Steve Corbin----they would biatch if you handed them a million dollars because it wasn't 2 million.
November 18, 2009 at 8:31 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
biscuitboy (anonymous) says...
But since all the freight is not manufactured, or sold, or used, right next to the railroad......and it would be cumbersome to have the trains stop every few feet to deliver and drop things off even if it was....hence the need for all those dirty old trucks. At least until technology figures out how to get freight to move its self. Then we wont even need railroads....we will just have to get used to being run down by speeding freight moving itself around. Sometimes you just can't win.
November 18, 2009 at 10:59 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
giggles (anonymous) says...
I just think something needs to be done with that highway. I live just off of the highway out west of town, there are people who slow down in the middle of the highway to turn on the road or drive where they live. It is so dangerous to be behind one of these people and hope that a semi doesn't plow through you while waiting for them to turn. How they think it is okay to come to a dead stop on a 65mph highway is beyond me. How much common sense does it take to pull over onto the shoulder and wait for traffic to pass so you can safely turn?
Between those people and the ones who are so self important that they must blow by you and anyone else they deem to be going too slow, I don't know how anyone survives driving on it.
November 18, 2009 at 11:24 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
tbluma (anonymous) says...
Gee YY4U how do you suppose everything that you buy gets to the place where you purchase it. If I were a trucker I would try to find out where you lived and dumb a big load of what ever in your yard. Since you have such a high regard for the drivers and their families what could it hurt?
November 18, 2009 at 12:01 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
tbluma (anonymous) says...
yy4u maybe you shouldn't shop at walmart then. That way the guy driving the truck would be healthy, get to see his family because he'd be home unemployed and you could say that you were hurting china's economy.
November 18, 2009 at 12:35 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
truelovecharlie (anonymous) says...
YY$U--How do you suppose the prducts you buy from Country Mart, Bluestem, Sutherlands and the Smoke shop get from point A to Point B? Talk about generalizing. I have known many truckers and few have been like the ones you described. Truckers have a hard life as it takes many miles a week to make a livable income. Short haul drivers that are home every night and most every weekend make hardly enough to keep the wolf away from their door.
November 18, 2009 at 2:03 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
giggles (anonymous) says...
Yeah, stay in school, that way no one will ever have to be a truck driver. It's not the best logic you have in this circumstance YY4U. Remember, not everyone can be at the top.
November 18, 2009 at 3:54 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
biscuitboy (anonymous) says...
Actually it is made in China....shipped in large containers that are conveniently the size of truck trailers to The Port of Los Angeles where those conveniently sized containers are shipped to Wal Mart distribution centers around the country on an almost unbroken chain of BNSF trains. Once it arrives near those distribution centers the conveniently sized containers are loaded onto a set of trailer wheels and pulled by dirty old trucks to their final destination. The places where those transfers are made are called inter-modals.....are you starting to get the picture.
November 19, 2009 at 6:45 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )