Lecompton-area residents and business owners gathered inside Heritage Baptist Church off County Route 438 on Thursday, March 3, 2016 to hear about options for major changes to the K-10/I-70 interchange.

In February, Scott Hanks rallied for a public meeting from the Kansas Department of Transportation with the goal that a large turnout would show KDOT the community was against a plan to cut off access from Douglas County Route 438 to Kansas Highway 10.

Thursday night, inside the packed Heritage Baptist Church right off Route 438 — commonly known as the Farmer’s Turnpike — Hanks said he thought his goal had been achieved.

“I want to tell you something, people just do not want Farmer’s Turnpike to close,” he said. “They are really grilling them over it.”

By Hanks’ estimate, more than 450 filled the church at peak attendance, and at least 30 spoke during a long public comment period. Most comments were voiced in opposition to the idea for a future K-10/Interstate 70 interchange that is to be part of major changes to the South Lawrence Trafficway’s west leg. Should that option be constructed, the interchange would be the northern terminus of K-10, and the current short link north of the freeway connecting to the Farmer’s Turnpike would be abandoned.

Ryan Barrett, a project manager with KDOT, said at the end of the nearly three-hour meeting that KDOT would be working on alternatives to the two plans it presented.

“We are going to regroup,” Barrett said. “We were here to receive feedback, so we’re glad we’re hearing this now. We’ll see how that affects our progression with what was originally presented.”

By 7 p.m. Thursday, the crowd had thinned, but hundreds still sat in the church’s pews. A line of people waiting to comment stretched down the center aisle.

Business owners and residents of northwest Douglas County and southeast Jefferson County spoke against a proposed toll they’d be making on regular commutes to Lawrence. They, as well as a handful of emergency response personnel, also voiced concerns about the danger of forcing drivers onto U.S. Highway 40 or the gravel East 800 Road.

One resident described U.S. 40 as “neglected” and another said it was “a death trap.”

Lecompton-area residents and business owners gathered inside Heritage Baptist Church off County Route 438 on Thursday, March 3, 2016 to hear about options for major changes to the K-10/I-70 interchange.

KDOT has said the long-term goal is to improve K-10 to the standards of a four-lane freeway from the Kansas Turnpike interchange west of Lawrence to the U.S. Highway 59 interchange to the south, offering a seamless connection between I-70 and Interstate 435 in the Kansas City area.

KDOT officials have offered an alternative to the interchange that would keep the road toll-free and maintain access to Farmer’s Turnpike. It would be a system-to-system interchange, allowing for free-flow movement between K-10 and I-70. However, that option would be about $8 million to $10 million more expensive. It would also see about 16 percent more crashes than KDOT’s preferred solution, officials said.

In October, Lawrence and Douglas County commissioners agreed to send a letter to KDOT expressing support for the west leg of the project. The letter suggested access to the Farmer’s Turnpike be maintained and asked that the area remain free of tolls.

KDOT has also made clear there is no money now available for west leg construction and work would not start until at least 2020.

The study phase of the SLT’s west leg improvements is wrapping up, and the design phase will start this spring or summer.