Web posted
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Traffic flow, safety keys US-77 plan
This is the third of a four-part series about the corridor study that was recently completed.
See complete corridor study
By DAVE SEATON
Staff Writer
A long-term plan for development of the US-77 corridor between Winfield and Arkansas City seeks to maintain traffic flow and limit access to the four-lane highway.
At the same time the plan considers the need for access to industrial, commercial and residential sites along US-77.
A prime concern is safety.
The transportation recommendations of the plan are outlined in the report of the study conducted for a partnership of the Kansas Department of
Transportation (KDOT), Cowley County and the cities of Arkansas City and Winfield.
The plan views US-77 and the adjacent local road network as a unit.
"US-77 and the local street network are an integrated system," the report said, "and it would not be prudent to focus on the mainline at the expense of the local street network, or, conversely, to have a focus on the local street network at the expense of the mainline."
The plan contains both short- and long-term recommendations for improving transportation in the corridor.
Among the long-term recommendations are the following:
* Construction of a west Winfield bypass. The report calls this a "linchpin" in the long-term development of the US-77 corridor in Cowley County.
* Construction of a "half-diamond" interchange at the intersection of US-77 and Summit Street north of Arkansas City. The interchange would merge traffic without a stoplight. Other options considered were a signalized, at-grade intersection and a roundabout.
* Installing a traffic signal and turning lane additions, or a two-lane roundabout, at the intersection of Madison Avenue and the Arkansas City bypass. Madison Avenue is the route of the former US-166. * Constructing an overpass at 222nd Road to serve the Cowley Cinema 8 site.
These projects are called "ultimate improvements" in the report. It does not set out a time frame for them. The report proposes a partnership advisory group to oversee them.
In the near term, the report recommends five projects to start implementation of the plan's transportation goals. "These projects are listed in order of priority and should be implemented in 3 to 5 years," the plan said. "These priorities may be modified by the Partnership based on the changing needs of the corridor."
The five near-term projects are as follow:
* Design and construct a roundabout at the intersection of Kansas Avenue and the Arkansas City bypass.
* Commission an alignment study for the west Winfield bypass.
* Realign and improve Country Club Road to an arterial. An arterial is a road built to carry heavy, through traffic.
* Consolidate access points from Strother Field to US-77 by closing Seventh Avenue near the north end of the field and First Avenue at the south end of the field. A new access road with an overpass over US-77 would be constructed to serve traffic at the field's south end. On the north, 61st Road would be improved to give traffic from Winfield alternative access to and through Strother Field.
* Upgrade 61st Road between the future hospital site and Arkansas City to an urban arterial. An urban arterial is essentially a heavily traveled, through street. The proposed site of a new medical center is just west of US-77 four miles north of Arkansas City. The site is also served by 242nd Road. An overpass over US-77 for that road would be a major, near-term project under the plan.
Financing for the center is still being sought, Clayton Pappan, a spokesman, said.
Along with the major projects mentioned, the plan recommends closing a number of existing intersections where east-west county roads connect with US-77. Those roads include 202nd Road, 212th Road, 232nd Road, 244th Road, 252nd Road, 314th Drive and Wright Avenue. (The higher the road number, the farther south the road.)
Parallel and feeder roads would be improved to aid access to US-77 in the vicinity of the closed county roads. Several new feeder roads would be constructed to give rural residents new, if less direct, access to US-77 under the plan.
For instance, a new frontage road would aid access from the east on 202nd Road, which intersects with US-77 between Winfield and Strother Field. A new "collector" road would connect Wright Avenue and 312th Road in the IXL area south of Arkansas City, aiding access to US-77 for residents there.
Residents who live on property that fronts US-77 would be encouraged to use side entrances, both in cities and in the county. Existing driveways would be grandfathered, but new homes would be required to have side driveways.
The plan proposes that zoning for commercial land along US-77 require new businesses to consolidate entrances or share them with neighbors in ways that reduced congestion. Similar requirements would affect businesses on frontage roads. Again, existing entrances would be grandfathered.
The plan offers a series of tools for local units of government as they implement these changes. The tools range from overlay zoning districts to setback regulations and adoption of an official map that shows conclusively the width of future roads and drainage rights-of-way.
Any of these requirements would require approval by local, elected bodies.
The report suggests a US-77 Oversight Committee be created to serve as an advisory body. The county, the two cities and KDOT would have representatives on the committee, which would have no authority to take action.
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