LETTERS: Another point of view
To the Editor:
I agree with Chad Frey (Newton Kansan). Something needs to be done on U.S.-50. The traffic needs to be separated and routed around dangerous intersections and possibly some small towns. It's time the state of Kansas declare an emergency and get started on a new road that will carry the traffic in the future between Emporia and the junction of U.S.-50 and K-61 west of Hutchinson. It's 15 to 20 years overdue.
The recent accidents on U.S.-50 are unfortunate, and my thoughts are with those families who have lost someone special to them. It's been said that trucks use U.S.-50 to avoid the toll road. I think different.
U.S.-50 is a major link for truck traffic traveling from the east and west coasts and has been for years. It's not only the shortest, it's the quickest and the terrain is more level, which takes less fuel.
Though I believe trucks were somewhat responsible for the recent accidents, I also believe the construction company and state of Kansas share some responsibility.
I am a lifetime resident of Peabody and I also own and operate one of the big rigs that travels U.S.-50 and many other roads all across the country.
To the person from Peabody who wrote the article in a recent issue of the Newton Kansan (Truckers Have No Excuse), I think you are not quite as attentive as you would want the readers to believe. You wrote that before the construction zone there are bright flags, barrels, signs, and flaggers. I think you should look again at the accident sites. There were only three small diamond-shaped signs with small orange flags on top of them one-half or three-fourths of a mile before the construction zone where each of the accidents occurred.
No rumble strips were present. All of the accidents happened traveling westbound before the construction zones with the rumble strips and all the lights and barrels.
This is just not enough warning for the speeds that everyone is allowed to travel. When the speed limit went up, the size of signs, the warning equipment, and the distance to be warned stayed the same as when the speed limit was 55 mph.
I think the construction company and the state of Kansas should have recognized the need for more warning in construction areas on a busy highway. Our taxes pay wages for engineers to know these things in advance.
In other states you are alerted starting as far away as five to seven miles and as many as 10 to 15 times in that same distance. Construction companies use such things as mechanical flaggers, moveable rumble strips, flashing caution lights, more signage, and highway patrols with flashing lights. Also, in problem areas or high traffic areas there will be two flaggers on each end of the work zone. They even go to the trouble of broadcasting over AM radio and CB radio at the construction zone not 15 or 20 miles before you get there. All kinds of things could have happened in that 15 or 20 miles to take your mind off the up coming construction zone.
Concerning the writer's comment that many trucks speed. Yes, some do speed. Yet, how many people in cars pass you at 75 and 80 miles an hour then slam on the brakes in front of everyone they just passed to stop and turn left or right?
When I leave my home to go on a trip, I cringe at getting on the highway. When I turn left onto the highway from the west Peabody exit/entrance, I will have two or three cars pass me in a no passing zone before the curve that is only one-quarter mile away because they can't wait until I get up to speed or to a safe passing place. Then I stop and think about all the times someone in a car will pass just before the blinking arrow in an interstate construction zone just so they won't have to follow a big rig, because they're too slow.
Driving on U.S.-50 isn't a pleasure for the many truckers who travel the highway. It's a completely different view from my windshield. We need to realize that in the world we live in today, there won't be a decrease in the amount of traffic. We need to be ready for the traffic needs with better roads and more persistent warning in construction zones, especially on U.S.-50.
The answer is education and people working with each other for a solution. Contact your state representatives and senators, and together we can make a change for the better, so that other families will not have to endure tragedy.
Kevin R. Burke
Peabody
