route56.com UPDATES

[route56]

My first "Roadgeek cam" video. Here we have the turnpike/I-70 from East Lawrence to Lecompton, as well as the western leg of the South Lawrence Trafficway.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJUw_E7Zf08

Also, some photos of US 59 construction in Douglas County:


And a change to my exit guides:

I-135: Updated exit guides to reflect removal of the Lindsborg US-81B
Kansas Turnpike: Removed work zone speed limit and added new sign for Edwardsville at Exit 410.

In the Kansas Highways database, I have changed the Lindsborg US 81B entry to reflect its removal from the highway system. The Saline County segment remains in the State Highway system as K-4, the segment south of K-4 in Lindsborg has or will be turned over to McPherson County.

EDIT: minor change to photo links (damn you, case sensitivity)

[route56]

I've made a minor, but exciting, change to the formatting of my exit guides.

NOW, the exit guides will display using the appropriate typeface on most devices, regardless of whether the device has the roadgeek font installed on their device.

http://www.route56.com/exitguides/

I also set it up so that I can also have an exit display using a Clearview typeface. For example, since the Lawrence and Tonganoxie interchanges use clearview "in the field", they are also displayed that way on the exit guide.

http://www.route56.com/exitguides/ksturnpike.html#197

I've tested the new interface using Chrome, IE 8, IE 9, and Safari on my iPhone - there should be an viewable option available for most browsers.

[route56]

Here's my video of US 59 from the Douglas-Franklin County Line to the I-35/K-68 interchange in Ottawa:

[txstateends]

Richie, on this http://www.route56.com/exitguides/ksturnpike.html#197 exit guide:

At Exit 223 both directions, you left out the "a" in Leavenworth.  Between Exits 420 A&B, both "maintenance" signs need some spelling maintenance also.

Sorry, just trying to help 

Oh, and great vids too...

[route56]

Richie, on this http://www.route56.com/exitguides/ksturnpike.html#197 exit guide:

At Exit 223 both directions, you left out the "a" in Leavenworth.  Between Exits 420 A&B, both "maintenance" signs need some spelling maintenance also.

Fixed and fixed -- also figured out a way to get rid of that "white" space in the maintenance "signs"

Sorry, just trying to help 

Better that then no feedback at all...

[route56]

New Video: I-70 from I-470 in Topeka east to Lecompton:

[route56]

Some of the US 169 signs on the Shawnee Mission Parkway have been put back up, plus new ones have been added along the "new" segment:

[route56]

The Latest road video, this one is I-470 in Topeka end-to-end. Music by my friend and classmate Lisa Donnelly.

[route56]

This sign was taken in October of 2006 just west of the West Lawrence exit:


It was taken down during the big Kansas River bridge replacement project. With that project completed, the replacement sign was finally installed.



As you can see, the distance to Denver was (fortunately) retained. There used to be a similar sign just past Lecompton that showed the distance to Denver as 555 miles, but when it was replace, the distance to Denver was removed and the distance to Junction City (or, as said sign labels it, "JCT CITY") was added.

[Takumi]

Is that a K-10 shield in the new sign? VDOT often adds shields in overhead BGS exit distance signs but rarely city distance signs. Also, why was the distance changed? Is it for a different exit now?

[route56]

Is that a K-10 shield in the new sign?

Yes,

Also, why was the distance changed? Is it for a different exit now?

The top location was changed from Lecompton proper to the K-10 interchange. Lecompton is 5 road miles (3 miles west, 2 miles north) from the interchange via paved county roads

[route56]

Added/restored the first K-136, which was a spur from US 36 to the Sac and Fox Mission east of Highland in Doniphan County (about 9 miles northwest of the current version of K-136)

http://www.route56.com/highways/highways.php?hwy=136&seg=2

[kphoger]

I only clicked on one of your exit guides, which was 400/Plain Kellogg.  You still have it under construction at the Rock Road area, which has been completed for quite some time now.

I would love to see more people's roadgeek videos on here.  I like watching them.

[route56]

I only clicked on one of your exit guides, which was 400/Plain Kellogg.  You still have it under construction at the Rock Road area, which has been completed for quite some time now.

That's "Just Plain Kellogg." It's a tip of the hat to a Wichita custom

Anyway, I've removed the construction status and altered the exit guide based on the Google map - streetview was taken when Kellogg was still U/C.

Corrections and... oh, yeah.... submissions would be welcome

[kphoger]

I'll make notes of the exits next time I'm through.  By the way, I can tell you that the speed limit drops eastbound between (the Rock Road bridge) and (the frontage road stoplight right at the KTA entrance).

[J N Winkler]

Just a few observations on the "Just Plain Kellogg" exit list:

*  The other higher education institution accessible from the Edwards/Meridian exit is Newman University (formerly Kansas Newman College, and Sacred Heart College before that).

*  Supplementary guide signing in the general vicinity of Armour/Rock Road references the "East Kellogg Business District."  I believe, though I have no convenient way of checking short of driving out there, that Towne East Square (the mall) appears on supplemental guide signs for the Armour exit.  (Its sister mall, Towne West--which is just to the northeast of the I-235 cloverleaf--is not mentioned on signs.)

*  The Woodlawn exit is missing.  This has an off-ramp eastbound only; for all other directions, access is by the frontage road system, which is continuous between Oliver and (I believe) the current end of the freeway at Cypress just before the Turnpike interchange.

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Wichita,+KS&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Wichita,+Sedgwick,+Kansas&t=k&vpsrc=6&layer=c&cbll=37.679389,-97.268817&panoid=jiLCC5aL76WYKTgCHrd9WA&cbp=12,91.05,,0,-6.08&ll=37.679389,-97.268817&spn=0.003122,0.004823&z=18

(Note cack-handed design of the exit direction sign, and also that the advance guide sign for what is meant to be the Armour/Rock interchange complex references just Armour.  These signs were erected as part of the Woodlawn interchange contract; I am not sure they were revised when Rock Road opened.  The StreetView imagery currently available pre-dates completion of the Rock Road interchange, so I can't double-check my impressions of what the signs say in that part of Kellogg.)

*  There is no direct access to Edgemoor westbound since the off-ramp in that direction which serves the Oliver/Edgemoor interchange complex leaves Kellogg just south of the VA center (past Edgemoor, just before Oliver).  So what is signed as Oliver/Edgemoor eastbound is just Oliver westbound.

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Wichita,+KS&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Wichita,+Sedgwick,+Kansas&ll=37.679048,-97.273293&spn=0.003098,0.004823&t=k&z=18&vpsrc=6&layer=c&cbll=37.679543,-97.273838&panoid=4L1a2SsqrxbLZQ2hvIgrGQ&cbp=12,274.18,,0,2.87

*  The Seneca Street interchange complex is signed as Seneca/Sycamore in both directions.  Access to and from Sycamore for both directions of Kellogg is provided by frontage road with a facilitated U-turn (available only for westbound frontage road traffic) at the Seneca Street bridge; Sycamore itself has no direct connections to Kellogg.

*  There is a restricted-access half-diamond interchange with Grove just before the I-135 turban.  Westbound Kellogg traffic can exit onto Grove and Grove traffic can get onto Kellogg eastbound.

*  Supplementary guide signing now references Intrust Bank Arena.  This signing was erected not by KDOT, but rather by the City of Wichita through two contracts it advertised and awarded just before the arena opened.  I have the plans for one of these contracts and can send them.  Access to the arena is principally through the downtown flyover since it is (approximately) at William and Topeka.

[kphoger]

OK, I haven't written down my list yet, but here's what I can tell you for sure:

Eastbound:

Washington exit remains the same, and uses the acceleration lane from the downtown on-ramp as its deceleration/exit-only lane.

I-135 exit, southbound uses the acceleration lane from the Washington on-ramp as its exit-only lane, northbound branches off from the rightmost through lane.

Hillside exit remains the same.

Oliver / Edgemoor has a long exit-only lane, and has a supplemental sign for the East Kellogg Business District (I just noticed that the other day; this is my exit, and I'm not exactly sure what counts as the East Kellogg Business District).

Woodlawn exit, nothing much to say.

Rock / Armour / Towne East Drive, I have to drive by and see exactly how this exit is named.

Speed limit drops to 40 mph in advance of the Cypress stoplight.

Westbound:

3rd lane of travel PLUS an exit-only lane are added just past the Cypress stoplight, not sure where the 60 mph zone begins.

Rock exit, exit-only lane described above, or you can turn right at Cypress and use the frontage road if you don't want to shove your way over to turn right on Rock

Armour / Towne East Drive / Woodlawn, I have to drive by and see exactly which streets are named at the exit (not all are).

Oliver exit uses the acceleration lane from the Edgemoor/Kellogg on-ramp as its deceleration/exit-only lane.

Hillside exit remains the same, and uses the long acceleration lane from the Oliver/Kellogg on-ramp as its deceleration/exit-only lane.

Grove exit remains the same, and uses the acceleration lane from the Hillside on-ramp as its deceleration/exit-only lane.

I-135 exit, northbound gets an added exit-only lane, southbound branches off from the rightmost through lane.

Washington exit remains the same, and uses the on-ramp from I-135 as its deceleration/exit-only lane.

[J N Winkler]

"East Kellogg Business District" is, I think, a reference to the high-rise office building in the SE quadrant of Kellogg and Rock Road.  (Personally, I don't think either Towne East or the so-called business district merit supplementary guide signs, and I don't think they would have gotten them if KDOT's traffic-generator signing policies had been rigorously enforced.  Design for the Rock Road interchange was done under professional services contract to the City of Wichita, not KDOT, which means that KDOT would have been involved only at a review stage.)

I think 60 MPH on Kellogg westbound begins at the Cypress stoplight, but you don't see the first 60 MPH speed limit sign until you are almost past the exit.

[kphoger]

On my way home from work tonight, I saw that the East Kellogg Business District is actually signed as "Next 3 exits", which would be Oliver/Edgemeoor, Woodlawn, and Rock/Armour/Towne East/Whatever.  Therefore it must pertain to more than one building.  At any rate, I should be driving past the other exits in the next couple of days, and can post the actual signage then.

[route56]

Based on the comments of the Wichita natives, I have slightly refreshed the Kellogg exit guide to reflect the interchanges that were inadvertently not included.

http://www.route56.com/exitguides/Kellogg.html

I'm treating the Woodlawn/Armour/Rock interchanges as two overlapping interchanges - Woodlawn and Rock. Armour, therefore, is combined with Rock EB and Woodlawn WB.

[kphoger]

You'll want to change the spelling from Cyprus (island) to Cypress (tree).
I'll have exit signs for you ASAP.

[kphoger]

OK, I took a tiny detour on my way to pick up lunch today.

The eastbound exit is signed:

>>Towne East Dr
>>Armour
>>__________
>>Rock

The westbound exit is signed:

>>Towne East Dr
>>Armour
>>__________
>>Woodlawn

Wow, I didn't realize all roads were named in both directions.  I guess I was thinking of Edgemoor, which must also be accessed via the Towne East exit.  And, J N Winkler, it's not technically the mall that's signed but rather the street by the same name, which is what Armour becomes as it crosses Kellogg.

Also, the speed limit increase from 40 to 60 mph westbound is just before Kellogg crosses over Eastern, shorly after the Cypress light.

[route56]

Thanks.... I've added Towne East Dr to the signage at the Armour exits... as well as corrected the Dugan exit (WB exit/EB entry, EB, Dugan is signed at the Ridge Road exit and connected via frontage roads.) I also added additional exit services (as marked on the ground by those big blue specific service signs)

I probably won't have much to add for a while, aside from maybe a few US 59 construction pictures. At least my van is paid off... finally

[J N Winkler]

And, J N Winkler, it's not technically the mall that's signed but rather the street by the same name, which is what Armour becomes as it crosses Kellogg.

Armour used to be Armour all the way north to Douglas, where it ends (it resumes a block further north as a court or blind street in a subdivision).  It seems they renamed the part of it between Kellogg and Douglas "Towne East Drive" to highlight the mall.  Sneaky!

Thanks.... I've added Towne East Dr to the signage at the Armour exits... as well as corrected the Dugan exit (WB exit/EB entry, EB, Dugan is signed at the Ridge Road exit and connected via frontage roads.)

Thanks--I had forgotten about this (Ridge and Dugan are effectively a split diamond).  In the eastbound direction there is a supplemental guide sign for "Dugan Center Business District."  Kphoger is correct that the "East Kellogg Business District" sign appears at the Oliver exit and so cannot be a reference solely to the high-rise at Kellogg and Rock.  "Business District" in these contexts, I now think, is meant to refer to shopping districts like the big-box stores reached from the Dugan exit (west Wichita) and the automobile dealerships between Edgemoor and Rock as well as Towne East itself (east Wichita).

[kphoger]

The Dole VA Center is also noted on a supplemental sign for Oliver/Edgemoor (eastbound), as well as on an overhead sign after the exit for no apparent reason (no arrow, no nothing, kind of like 'Well, you're passing it now').  Not sure if/where it's signed westbound....

EDIT:  Dole VA Center