County to slow down drivers on rural roads during construction project

Douglas County commissioners will put the brakes on drivers going off road to avoid a construction project northwest of Lawrence.

Commissioners agreed Monday to impose new speed limits on rural roads north of the Farmers Turnpike and east of County Road 1029, which is set for reconstruction this spring.

The changes will affect stretches of nine rural roads expected to endure increased traffic while crews rebuild 1029, which connects the Farmers Turnpike to Lecompton.

The rural roads’ current speed limit is 55 mph, but the new temporary limits will call for drivers to slow to 45 mph, 40 mph, 35 mph, 30 mph or 25 mph, depending on the locations.

Among the streets with the new limits: County Road 7, North 1851 Diagonal Road and Scenic River Road.

“It’s just a common-sense expectation that with an increase in traffic, if you allow speeds of 55 on these roads, it’s just going to be too dangerous of a situation,” Sheriff Rick Trapp said. “They’re not designed for that much traffic at that speed.”

Sheriff’s patrols will be increased in the area, Trapp said, “to alert people and remind them that if they’re going to travel on these roads, they’re going to have to do so at a reduced speed.”

Crews from Hamm Inc. are handling the $1.8 million construction job to revamp the 2.75-mile stretch of 1029, which carries 4,700 vehicles a day. Crews will add paved shoulders, fill in dips and flatten ditches to improve safety.

Also scheduled: Turning the road’s intersection with the Farmers Turnpike into a curve, so that traffic traveling between Lawrence and Lecompton won’t have to stop.

Sections of several rural roads connecting with Douglas County Road 1029 will be treated this summer with a magnesium chloride solution, a move to reduce dust kicked up by traffic using the roads as detours from the reconstruction of 1029.Commissioners agreed Monday to spend $15,936 for the material.

In November, crews closed 1029 for several weeks to install new drainage culverts.

In other action Monday, commissioners:

  • Agreed to spend $15,000 of the county’s $70,000 set aside for a study intended to prompt establishment of a Bleeding Kansas National Heritage Area.
  • Discussed proposed commercial development policies to be included in Horizon 2020, the city-county comprehensive land-use guide. Commissioners intend to vote on the proposals during their next business meeting, scheduled for 3 p.m. Monday.