Regional Boards > Central States
Kansas
Hunty2022:
Is there a reason that it’s a super two? I can see they have the ROW for 4 lanes, so is it just that there’s not enough traffic for the upgrade?
J N Winkler:
--- Quote from: Hunty2022 on September 19, 2023, 06:16:25 PM ---Is there a reason that it’s a super two? I can see they have the ROW for 4 lanes, so is it just that there’s not enough traffic for the upgrade?
--- End quote ---
KDOT opted for staged construction to release funds for use elsewhere within the current ten-year program. AADTs (2022 data) range from 3100 VPD just south of Sterling to 5110 VPD just east of Nickerson, so they are all below the usual 10,000 VPD for widening to four-lane divided. Kansas actually has divided highways elsewhere with AADTs well below 10,000 (one recent example being 5320 VPD along the US 54 freeway bypass of Cunningham); however, the initial Super Two upgrade for K-14/K-96 spreads the jam over more of the bread while upgrading roadway geometry to reduce crashes associated with failed overtaking maneuvers, which was one of the other justifications for the project.
roadman65:
Is there a reason why KDOT can’t assign control cities for either straight through I-70 or I-670 here?
Since St. Louis is already being used since the toll road ended, why not use St. Louis for I-670 and use Kansas City Downtown for I-70.
Scott5114:
This is one of those things that seems weird as hell, until you get to know KDOT, and then you kind of get the internal logic they're following.
KDOT standard practice is to simply not use control cities in situations where the route does not reach any location that is distinctly different from the location of the sign. So unlike many states that will use a control city on a 3di that is accessed by the parent interstate, KDOT just leaves it blank. Neither I-435 nor I-635 have any control cities in Kansas, for instance, and I don't believe I-235 in Wichita uses them either. The changeover point from "Kansas City" to "St Louis" occurs whenever one enters Kansas City KS (skipping Kansas City MO), so KDOT seems to treat both Kansas Cities as one geographic construct. Accordingly, I-670 gets no control cities, because it only passes through places called Kansas City for its entire length, and any place one would access it would also be in Kansas City.
Why I-70 is left blank here is unknown. It could just be for aesthetic balance since I-670 isn't getting a control, or because it would make the sign panel too large, or possibly simply for message loading reasons. Or, my favorite theory: since 670 and 70 both end up at the same point, they don't want to influence the traveler to pick one route over the other.
"Kansas City Downtown" in particular would be a very un-KDOT control point.
roadman65:
I noticed that. I-435 in Missouri uses control cities even though Kansas does not. I-235 don’t but uses Salina and Okla City on supplemental signs on US 54 at I-235 and leaves the main guides as blank.
I’ve figured KDOT considers a geographic area as one whole city over city limits on why Kansas City is skipped on both I-35 and I-70 for the next large cities.
However many states now are eliminating control cities on three digit suburban routes or beltways with some others never having them. Columbus used to use control cities on I-270, but in the past few decades the I-70 and 71 cities that were once used for I-270 have been removed. So I assumed it’s a recent change in signing practices for Ohio to participate in or a higher power.
I-635 could use Overland Park and St. Joseph with KDOT copying NJDOT recent practices using I-635 North TO I-29 North to fulfill that I-635 don’t go to St Joseph.
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