To the editor:

I want to thank the local and state officials who authorized upgrading U.S. Highway 24-59 between the Kansas Turnpike East Lawrence interchange and Teepee Junction. I especially want to thank the construction crews who worked there during bad heat and humidity.

Replacing those rotting concrete medians with a level roadway divided by painted turnouts has arguably made North Lawrence the city’s best-looking entry and exit point. However, at Teepee Junction, a critical safety issue was overlooked, namely, the need to keep left-turning vehicles from invading the southbound and northbound through-traffic lanes.

The upgrade gave northbound drivers a new left-turn lane for turning west into Riverfront Park. Southbound drivers have a new left-turn lane for heading east toward the Lawrence Airport. These are wonderful improvements.

But traffic often stacks up in these turn lanes during red lights. Drivers first in line can’t see through the row of vehicles sitting opposite, thus they can’t tell if there’s any through traffic coming. Left-turn arrows were not installed to control their decision-making, so when the light turns green, drivers get lured into a “blind left turn” gamble. House rules allow only three payouts: no collision, survived collision and death by collision.

With Kansas University football on the brink of a bowl game and basketball season near, thousands more vehicles will stream through North Lawrence weekly. For visiting fans and local residents, a Teepee Junction without left-turn arrows makes this intersection the same deadly menace it was before.

Joe Hyde,

Lawrence