City planners work to reconfigure six-points

If everything goes the way city planners hope, drivers may see shorter waiting periods and less confusion at the six-points intersection by the end of 2011.

During last week's city strategic meeting, Public Works Director Joe Sealey showed preliminary plans to city commissioners showing the closings of East 2nd Street and Bluebell Road at the intersection. Drivers traveling towards the six-points intersection on both streets would be diverted to either U.S. Highway 83 or U.S. Highway 54 through nearby streets.

"We want something that's going to be functional, but workable for everybody," Sealey said. "So by dropping the 2nd Street leg and rerouting the Blue Bell leg out of that intersection, that pretty well is going to do that."

The Kansas Department of Transportation has been holding about $700,000 to repaving and reconfigure the intersection. Sealey hopes to submit preliminary schematics to KDOT by the end of January. If KDOT approves those plans, Sealey said the city will have until Aug. 10 to submit the engineering plans, environmental studies and field checks for KDOT's final approval.

After the city submitted different plans earlier this year to increase the flow of traffic, KDOT asked city planners to return to the drawing board. These initial plans, Sealey said, were developed with the hopes that KDOT, the city and Flying J Inc. would split the cost.

A line of cars waits for the green signal at the six points intersection while big rigs turn along U.S. Highway 83. City of Liberal administrators are in the process of developing plans to reconfigure the street by closing off the intersections at East 2nd Street and Bluebell Road. Photo by Tony Hernandez

If the city receives the $700,000 from KDOT in 2011, then it will use about the same amount from revenue from the city's 1 cent sales tax to complete the project, according to the city's strategic 2011 plan that has not been approved by the city commissioners.

The flow of traffic and the length of time drivers wait to pass the intersection are the major reasons for reconfiguring the intersection. According to a 2006 traffic study, 7,160 vehicles passed the intersection through Highway 83 in a 24-hour period; 8,520 passed on Highway 54; 1,740 passed on East 2nd Street and 2475 passed on Blue Bell.

For full story please see Wednesday's Times

© 2008 Southwest Times