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City should consider downtown safety

By Staff | Oct 9, 2002

Work appears to be progressing well on the intersection improvements at Kansas Highway 16 and U.S. Highway 24-40.

Now that the project is taking shape, Tonganoxie area residents can see what a benefit this intersection widening will be to the city. And next summer, the city plans to link the downtown project to the intersection project, which will ensure the gateway to downtown is more cohesive.

While the city is looking to beautify the entrance to downtown Tonganoxie, it might be beneficial to look at downtown parking and specifically the effects of downtown parking on safety.

It is difficult to safely cross Fourth Street in a vehicle because the sight distance is limited. One particularly difficult intersection is at Fourth and Bury streets. Because parking is allowed too close to that intersection, vehicles must nose out into Fourth Street before drivers can tell whether it is safe to proceed. It’s clearly dangerous.

And because many vehicles that park downtown are pickup trucks, vans or sport utility vehicles, the problem is magnified.

The safety issue should be addressed, and it should be addressed soon.