What's Happened So Far

Please scroll down to see following subjects.

Overview of the Corridor Study

Contract for Comprehensive Transportation Corridor Study

Traffic Study and Results

Calendar of Past Meetings

Overview of Corridor Study

H.D.R. Embarks on Corridor Study

The Kansas Department of Transportation and the Kansas Turnpike Authority have contracted a nationally recognized engineering company, Henningson, Durham & Richardson, Inc. (HDR) of Kansas City to perform a detailed transportation corridor study between Kansas City, Lawrence, and Topeka.

This corridor study encompasses a north-south band approximately 40 miles wide. All routes within the band will be evaluated, including Highway 24. The corridor study will closely evaluate current and future transportation needs and will be used to decide the best use of highway funds.

Travel patterns will be examined utilizing computerized traffic flow methods. On Tuesday, April 28th, HDR conducted a traffic survey which involved individuals with video cameras posted throughout the corridor. License plates were recorded to identify the traffic flow patterns of those who navigate the study area.

Preliminary Results of Traffic Study

Barry Rolle, project supervisor of HDR Engineering's Major Corridor Study, reports that the April 28 License plate survey recorded 116,353 license plates within the study area. The data is currently in the final stages of sorting and matching to determine the travel patterns. Along with traffic patterns within the area, population and employment locations will be considered for the traffic model. Complete results will be provided to the public when all data has been assessed.

Mary Prewitt, of the JTF Steering Committee, and I have been asked to sit on the Citizens Advisory Group of the HDR study. Its first meeting was on the 27th of May. Several letters of support for the JTF position have been received, and we are soliciting more, all of which will be forwarded to HDR. JTF hosted 4 state legislators on a tour of the area. Present were Senators Sandy Praeger and Don Biggs, and Representatives Joann Flower and Tom Sloan. They were very supportive of our position, and offered several suggestions on how we could proceed. We met with our Federal Representative, Jim Ryun to discuss this issue, and he was very supportive of our goals. He also offered several suggestions for action that we plan to implement. Please call or write these legislators (Click here for phone numbers and addresses), and let them know how you feel about this issue, so that they are aware that you, as their constituents, support our efforts in making sure that the chosen Hwy 24/40 route makes the most sense. If you have questions or comments, please feel free to call me (Ron Renz), or any of the other members of the Jefferson Task Force Steering committee.

Calendar of Past Meetings

March 10: Jefferson Task Force Newsletter mailed to 250

April 26: Jefferson Task Force meeting

April 28: HDR Engineering traffic survey

May 12: HDR Technical Advisory Committee meeting

May 26: HDR Executive Steering Committee meeting (attended by JTF chairman, Ron Renz)

June 16: H.D.R. Public Meeting, 4:00-8:00 PM, DeSoto High School, 35000 West 91st Street

June 17: H.D.R. Public Meeting, 4:00-8:00 PM, American Legion Hall, Corner of Perry Pl. & Cedar St (behind Bob’s IGA), Perry, KS

Three twenty minute informational presentations will be made at 4:40, 5:40. & 6:40. Representatives will be present to meet everyone and to answer questions. Please plan to stop by & bring your written comments, opinions, and ideas on where you think improvements to Hwy 24 should be made. This is your opportunity to communicate your concerns. Please send a copy of your comments to the JTF Steering Committee.

Contract for Corridor Study

From Task Force Legal Representative, Mary Prewitt: We have obtained and reviewed the Agreement for Engineering services entered between KDOT and HDR Engineering. This is the contract that sets out the basic activities which will comprise the Major Corridor Study (MCS) leading ultimately to recommendations for improvements to the highway system between Topeka and Kansas City. Generally, we are pleased with the provisions covering public involvement and input in the MCS and hopeful that they will result in a final proposal which reflects and serves the public interests involved.

The contract covers several tasks to be completed by HDR and identifies four committees to assist the process:

1) The Steering Committee is comprised of administrators of KDOT, KTA and Federal Highway Administration. It will meet 12 times during the 18 month study and coordinate the major activities associated with the study.

2) The Policy Committee is comprised of local elected officials, other agency/coalition representatives, and economic development and Chamber of Commerce representatives. Our group has two individuals named to this committee, Ron Renz and Mary Prewitt. The purpose of this committee is to provide input and evaluate information provided by HDR. It will meet four times. We are in the process of obtaining a list of others invited to attend the first meeting which was held on May 27. Ron, Mary, and several representatives of Leavenworth County interests appeared. Unfortunately, no representatives of Jefferson County government were present.

3) The Technical Committee consists of public works directors, engineers and planning staff members from the various local governments involved. It also serves the purpose of providing input to the study and evaluating information from HDR. It will meet five times.

4) The Public Involvement Workgroup is made up of the public affairs representatives of KDOT, KTA, HDR, Topeka, Lawrence/Douglas County and the Kansas City Metropolitan Area. This committee is to provide input on the public participation. It meets three times.

Major activities to be conducted during the study include:

An origin/destination survey which was completed on April 28. The survey gathered license plate numbers entering the corridor area and at various points within the corridor. From the data gathered, an attempt will be made to match plates at various points within the corridor, indicating where the traffic originated and where it was going.

A corridor user survey which will be conducted by telephone interviews of 400 randomly selected corridor users. The sources of the list of users have not yet been identified.

Three rounds of public meetings with each round consisting of two meetings.

A variety of community outreach activities, including availability of speakers, a traveling display, billboards, a hotline, a web site and newsletter.

From these sources and activities, the primary task of HDR is to collect data, reports and maps covering the corridor area from which they can compile an overview of the transportation system and project the future needs of the system. Based on the data, HDR will propose twelve alternative plans or solutions for handling the increased traffic within the corridor. We anticipate that the Williamstown to Tonganoxie route will be included in one of these alternatives. These alternatives will be studied in further detail and eliminated until ultimately, a regionally preferred alternative is chosen. This alternative will be presented to KDOT as the final product of the study. It will then be up to KDOT and KTA to determine whether to seek funding and proceed with the projects involved. HDR Website: http://www.Kawconnects.com