There’s more traffic in Tonganoxie than there used to be.

A 24-hour traffic count taken May 17 by Kansas Department of Transportation showed traffic has increased during the last three years by as much as 32 percent at several Tonganoxie sites.

The counts were taken at 15 sites in and near Tonganoxie.

Terry Barnes, KDOT traffic count coordinator, said the current count may be skewed on the high side. That’s because the previous count, taken Jan. 3, 2001, was made during the winter when people travel less.

But even so, Barnes said he believed there has been a definite increase in traffic in Tonganoxie.

“I think if we could have counted in January again, we still would have seen an increase,” Barnes said.

Barnes said he had wondered how this year’s count would turn out.

“I honestly didn’t know what to expect,” Barnes said, adding that he had been hearing that people who work in Johnson County were moving to Tonganoxie.

The next traffic count in Tonganoxie will be conducted three years from now, he said.

And, for a more complete count of traffic on U.S. Highway 24-40, Barnes said a thorough count will be done in fiscal year 2005.

Main Street, between the Community National Bank and the high school football field, showed one of the greatest increases in traffic. In 1999, the traffic count showed 2,594 vehicles in a 24-hour period. This year’s count tallied 3,435 in a 24-hour period — a 32 percent increase.

Darla Parker, who has worked at Community National Bank since before the bank was moved to that location five years ago, said she’s seen a definite increase in traffic on Main Street where the bank is located.

“It’s hard to get out of the driveway at times,” she said. “You have to be really careful.”

And, she said, the traffic is just about as bad in the morning as it is later in the day.

“Even at a quarter till seven in the morning you have to sit there and wait until you can get in to the parking lot,” she said.