Tonganoxie ? The winds of change are blowing in southwestern Leavenworth County, and some rural residents worry that a storm of an urban development magnitude is headed their way.

That’s why earlier this month about 80 people met with Leavenworth County Commissioner Dean Oroke to discuss their concerns about a possible Kansas Turnpike interchange near Tonganoxie and other development projects that might follow.

Jan Bernhardt, who owns and lives on a farm near the proposed interchange site, didn’t want to sit back and wait for changes to happen. She was an organizer of the meeting at the Leavenworth County Fairgrounds in Tonganoxie.

“I just felt that the people had a right to have a voice in this because they are talking about changing our lives here in a way we don’t want,” said Bernhardt, who teaches art at South Junior High School in Lawrence. “A lot of people moved out here to get out of the city.”

B.A. Skeet, another rural farmer who opposes the interchange and is worried about the changes it might bring, said he wasn’t sure how the farm he’s had since 1974 would be affected.

“My personal thought it is it wouldn’t be advantageous,” he said.

Whatever is going to happen, it is a long way from becoming reality, Oroke said.

Jan Bernhardt and her son, Gabe Sosman-Bernhardt, 12, live on a farm near Tonganoxie that was built by her grandfather and has been in the family for nearly 100 years.

“We’re not making a knee-jerk reaction just because there is a little opposition at this stage,” he said.

Voters spoke

The Kansas Turnpike Authority has said it would build a Tonganoxie interchange near Leavenworth County Road 1 if the county would fund and build a connector road to the interchange.

There are two options the county will consider: making major improvements to County Road 1 and having it be the connecting road, or building a new route.

In April, county voters approved a one-cent sales tax that would be used, in part, to fund a connector road. The tax doesn’t start until 2007. Upgrading County Road 1 would cost between $10 million and $15 million. A new route would cost about $3.7 million less. The city of Tonganoxie has pledged to help the county fund the project if County Road 1 is upgraded to be the connector.

Also of concern to residents is a plan by Paul McKie, who owns more than 2,000 acres of land known as the Tailgate Ranch south of Tonganoxie. He wants to develop some of his land and is supposed to come up with a master development plan describing what he proposes.

• 6News video: Proposed interchange could mean changes for Eudora roads (10-06-05)
• City, county leaders want a voice in turnpike plans (10-6-05)
• 6News video: Lawrence, Douglas County officials want in on turnpike plans (10-05-05)
• Interchange plan divisive issue in Tonganoxie (2-24-05)

Oroke, who lives in Tonganoxie, emphasized that no decisions have been made about a connector road. Nothing will happen until that decision is made and McKie’s development plan is finished. It could be at least three to four years before anything is done, Oroke said.

“It (the decision) won’t be made until we look at all the facts, the benefits and the negatives and the positives,” Oroke said.

Oroke also noted that during the April election, voters in Reno Township, where Bernhardt and many others who oppose the interchange project live, 232 votes were cast in favor of the interchange and 105 against it.

“There are people who are for the project and they might call a meeting and there would be 150 of them,” Oroke said.

Other issues

Bernhardt and her son live on a 320-acre farm that has been in her family for nearly 100 years. She admitted she would like to see the farm remain in a pristine rural area away from developments such as Village West around Kansas Speedway in Wyandotte County or the suburban sprawl in Johnson County.

“I’m just very passionate about it,” she said. “It’s my family farm. I want to retire on it.”

Bernhardt contends that people who voted for the sales tax for road improvements related to the interchange weren’t necessarily in favor of the development that could follow. She said she and others also were concerned about whether the county would really be able to fund an connector road to Interstate 70. They wonder what environmental issues should be considered.

“Our premise is we don’t need it and we can’t afford it,” she said.

Oroke maintains the county isn’t going to put up more than $6 million or $7 million for its project.

Gene Owen, who owns 450 acres and lives along County Road 1, favors the interchange. It will make turnpike travel easier, he said.

Owen, now retired, was a builder who worked on several residential developments in Johnson County. It would “take years and years” before the development concerns Bernhardt and other have might become reality, Owen said.

“I’m not worried about that,” he said.

Nevertheless, opponents are conducting their own research into various issues and trying to decide what approach to take next, Bernhardt and Skeet said.

“We’re just looking for ideas, I guess you could say,” Skeet said. “If you don’t try, you know you’re aren’t going to win.”