A wrong turn became costly for dozens of Lawrence drivers Tuesday.
At $57.50, it was the most expensive trip to the post office Brian Wagner has ever taken, and he's not alone. Police officers wrote 57 tickets Tuesday to drivers who ignored or didn't see a barricade at 10th and Kentucky streets.
"Some of us are just trying to get to the other side of town," said Wagner, frustrated about a drainage and sewer line project that shut down four blocks of Ninth Street, from New Hampshire to Tennessee, a one-way southbound street.
Wagner wasn't the only driver hot under the collar after receiving the moving violation.
"This is bullcrap," said one man, driving away from the gauntlet set up by officers.
With all northbound traffic on Kentucky stopped for four blocks, congestion at 10th Street between Kentucky and Tennessee added to the confusion. Even though a barricade blocked the west lane of Kentucky, dozens of drivers missed the sign, ignored it or, like Wagner, didn't see it until they had already entered the intersection.
Some just followed other drivers past the sign, only to come to a standstill, where they waited for the officers to get to their vehicle.
Some quickly saw the police and turned into driveways to make a U-turn, heading south on the one-way street. Anyone who had business nearby or lived on the street were let off the hook.
Lawrence attorney David J. Brown avoided a ticket because he had an appointment on the block, but he said the officers lacked compassion for drivers who were confused by the ever-changing street closings in the area.
"I think the situation was poorly handled," Brown said. "It's possible that by then, they'd had all sorts of abuse, but let's just say they were not polite in any way, shape or form. ... I was immediately accused of breaking the law; I had no intention of breaking any law, and I didn't, but they approached it that way."
Sgt. George Wheeler, spokesman for the Lawrence Police Department, said officers were assigned to the area from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday, but he warned that drivers on Kentucky and other streets will be watched throughout the project.
"We want to keep traffic from balling up, and we're trying to get people not to drive past the signs that say 'road closed,'" Wheeler said. "People aren't paying attention to those great big orange signs."
Gayle Martin, the city's communications coordinator, said that construction closed Ninth and Kentucky in mid-July, but that the intersection should open within two weeks.
Brown said the city could soften the impact of construction hassles.
"It seems to me, the city has gone out of its way to see that people don't come downtown," he said. "If the city puts up roadblocks, the least they could do is be courteous to folks and try to help them instead of giving them tickets."
-- Chris Koger's phone message number is 832-7126. His e-mail address is ckoger@ljworld.com.
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