Victim’s sister blames highway

Death continues trend along 'dangerous' stretch of U.S. 24-59

Carly Jessup seethed with anger Monday as she visited the site north of Lawrence where her younger sister died Sunday night on U.S. Highway 24-59 near Midland Junction.

“It’s a dangerous highway,” Jessup said later from her McLouth home. “I want to know where the shoulder is. There is no pavement. All there is is gravel and a drop-off.”

Jessup’s 18-year-old sister, Carmen Jessup, was killed when she lost control of her sport utility vehicle and went off the highway at the curve, according to the Kansas Highway Patrol. Attempting to drive back onto the road, Jessup overcorrected and her Ford SUV rolled several times. She was thrown from the vehicle and later pronounced dead at the scene.

According to state highway data, Jessup’s death brings to seven the number of people killed in crashes along the 10-mile stretch from North Lawrence to near Perry since 1998, and the number of injuries to about 70. It was the second fatal crash in the area since mid-November.

A closer look

Winding through Douglas and Jefferson counties on its way to Shawnee County, U.S. 24-59 is a narrow, two-lane highway with no shoulders and steep drop-offs along much of the route. It’s a route the Kansas Department of Transportation a few years ago considered improving, but nothing substantive was done.

After three crashes and two deaths since Nov. 13 on the series of curves near Midland Junction, some are wanting a closer look at the road.

Douglas County commissioners on Monday agreed to ask the county’s Traffic Safety Advisory Committee to study the Midland Junction intersection area because of the “spate” of bad accidents there. Commissioners said they wanted to know whether anything could be done to improve safety.

Midland Junction is where the highway intersects with Douglas County Road 1045 at the Midland Feed Store.

Tim Skaggs, left, and Vicki Jessup, mother of Carmen Jessup, hold a prom picture of Tim Skaggs and Carmen Jessup, who was killed in a car accident Sunday on U.S Highway 24-59. They displayed the photograph Monday at the Jessup home in McLouth.

On Nov. 13, Paul V. Gump, 83, Oskaloosa, was killed when his car crossed the center line and was struck by an oncoming vehicle. His wife, Natalie Gump, has been hospitalized in critical condition since the accident.

A week ago, two drivers were injured when their vehicles collided at the junction. One of the drivers was struck while attempting to turn off the highway, according to the Highway Patrol.

Data from the Kansas Department of Transportation shows that from 1998 to mid-2003, five people were killed in accidents on the stretch between the Teepee Junction intersection north of Lawrence to where Highway 59 splits from U.S. 24 about three miles east of Perry. There have been more than 200 accidents during the same period, and about 70 people injured.

KDOT spokesman Stan Whitley said the department considered safety improvements along the highway a few years ago, but none were ever made. Last summer, some minor surfacing improvements were done.

“There hasn’t been any funding” for additional improvements, Whitley said.

On the way home

After Sunday’s crash, Jessup’s boyfriend, passenger Timothy Skaggs, 20, Tonganoxie, was taken by ambulance to Lawrence Memorial Hospital, where he was treated and released.

Neither Carmen Jessup nor Skaggs were wearing seat belts, according to the patrol’s report.

Carmen Jessup was a senior at McLouth High School and was practically a straight-A student, her sister said. She wanted to attend Johnson County Community College and then Kansas University.

“She wanted to go into the medical field,” said Carly Jessup, 24. “She wanted to be a pediatrician.”

Carmen had been dating Skaggs about a year, her sister said. The crash happened as the couple were returning to McLouth after spending the Thanksgiving holiday weekend visiting Skaggs’ relatives in Bristow, Okla.

“He’s not badly hurt, but he’s torn up. He’s distraught,” Carly said of Skaggs.

Sunday night’s accident occurred shortly before 6 p.m. when many travelers were on their way home after the long holiday weekend. Douglas County Sheriff’s deputies blocked traffic in both directions for about two hours, turning back motorists well away from the scene.

The news media also were kept some distance from the scene while Highway Patrol troopers investigated. Sheriff Rick Trapp said knowing how far to keep reporters and photographers from an accident scene was a judgment call, but he admitted Monday it was a mistake to keep them from Sunday’s crash.