25 years ago: Old ‘Dragstrip Road’ officially begins new life as Wakarusa Drive

From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for Nov. 24, 1987:

  • At this time in 1986, Dragstrip Road had been a gravel road running along the western edge of Lawrence alongside hundreds of acres of farmland. This week in 1987, officials at a ribbon-cutting ceremony opened the newly-paved Wakarusa Drive to traffic. The two-mile, four-lane road connected Sixth Street, West 15th Street and Clinton Parkway, improving access to the new University Corporate and Research Park and opening large tracts of undeveloped land for new housing.
  • With less than three days before Thanksgiving feasts all over the country, turkey price wars were being waged as increased supply and aggressive store promotions brought down the price of a bird to nearly nothing. Many supermarket chains were offering a free turkey to any purchaser buying $60 in other goods. According to the American Farm Bureau Federation, the average price of a complete Thanksgiving dinner for 10 was $25.41, 18 percent lower than last year. That amount would buy a turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, peas, rolls, cranberries, and pumpkin pie with whipped cream, according to the federation’s survey of markets in eight states and the District of Columbia.