HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The study session on the 30th and Lucille intersection has been scheduled for Tuesday, March 7 at 5:00 p.m. at City Hall.
The now full five person council is going to do a study session on the issue to get the new members, Stacy Goss and Stuart Conklin, up to speed.
Jeff Schenk with Engineering brought up several issues that would have to be decided upon before making a permanent choice of a light or a roundabout or a turn lane or any combination of those.
The engineering department is looking at a cost evaluation of the intersection, as far as what it would cost to do any upgrades, whether traffic signals or a roundabout. There's significant improvements that are required.
It's not as simple as adding a signal or adding a roundabout, especially a signal. There's a problem with the left turn needing to have vehicles going around the people that are parked in the left turn. That doesn't go away when you put the traffic signal up. There's still people stacking that far back.
It's because the road isn't appropriately wide. There isn't enough queue length in that left turn lane off of 30th for a traffic signal for it to be proper.
According to Jeff Schenk with Engineering, when you extend that traffic lane, there's a reinforced concrete box under the road. That's going to have to be widened.
Coming from the north, there's going to have to be several different traffic things that have to be looked at. The City only owns half of that roadway. That's a whole another conversation that would have to take place, as far as all the upgrades. There's also a reinforced concrete box under that section of roadway that would need to be lengthened.
The traffic signals, KDOT's come up with some new guidelines as far as what's required with traffic signal poles. The City would need easements to get the poles outside of the ditch and outside of the clear zone and get them back behind property limits. That's a significantly longer arm.
There's power lines on the south side of the road that Schenk believes could come in conflict. If so, then the city would have to coordinate with Evergy to look at raising the power lines to get a traffic signal under it.
The hope is to get the permanent speed signs to encourage those coming toward town from the east to slow down into place later this month, but the temporary signs have been put up already to get people used to the idea.
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