×
×
homepage logo

County intersection slated for improvement

By Lisa Scheller - | Apr 18, 2001

The intersection of County Road 25 and Evans Road is due for an improvement.

Dave Mahoney, Leavenworth County engineer and public works director, said the number of accidents at the intersection and a subsequent study of the intersection meant the county qualified for a federal safety grant that will pay 90 percent of the cost to make the intersection safer for motorists.

This will include a widening of the intersection. Construction could begin as early as this summer.

County Road 25, a north-south road also known as 206th Street, is about two miles east of Tonganoxie. Evans Road, which travels east and west, is also known as County Road 6.

Cathryn Neff, who has lived near the intersection since 1971, recalled at least three fatalities on County Road 25. The road was hard surfaced and widened in the early 1980s.

“When they widened 25, people who weren’t neighbors or used to this community would head down 25 and in their minds it looked like a through road,” Neff said.

“And that’s where the problem was strangers would think it was a through road and they would blow the stop sign.”

Neff noted Evans Road has no stop sign at that intersection.

“And of course, people going east and west had the right of way and they expected traffic on 25 to stop,” Neff said.

It appears that rumble strips installed about two years ago on County Road 25 have helped.

“Before the rumble strips were put in, a couple people were killed at the intersection,” Mahoney said. “There have been no deaths since then.”

The county now is in the process of acquiring right of way from six landowners and obtaining bids for construction, Mahoney said.

“We expect to start construction this summer if we can get the right of way,” Mahoney said.

Planned changes include:

Widening Evans Road near and through the intersection, adding left turn lanes and installing shoulders.

Widening County Road 25 near and through the intersection, adding shoulders.

Cutting down the hill on Evans Road east of the intersection to improve sight distance for drivers.

Installing new rumble strips that are smoother than the existing ones.