6/23/2010
By CHRIS HUNTER Salina Journal

For Tom and Norma Jean Andrews, they welcome a pilot program to study the safety of Country Club Road, where they've lived since 1964.

The Andrews know all too well about the dangers of Country Club after the grain truck Tom was driving a few years ago rolled twice when it went into a ditch.

"He went off the side of the road in a truck with 30 bushels of wheat in it," Norma Jean Andrews said Tuesday after a Saline County Commission meeting. "It rolled twice and he was wearing his lap belt. They had to cut it off of him, and he was Lifewatched to Wichita. This is very personal."

The program, the first of its kind in the state, is being performed by Steven Buckley, a state highway engineer. It will study the safety of a 10-mile stretch of Country Club between Salina and Dickinson County.

The road, which has steep ditches and no shoulder, has been a concern of residents for several years. About 15 of them showed up at Tuesday's meeting to voice their concerns.

Tom Andrews told commissioners he didn't remember the crash but said he was not going over 40 mph, so speed was not an issue.

Trying something new

Buckley said the state wants to look at making the road safer and has asked for public comment from residents along the road. For the first time in Kansas, Buckley said, the state wants to combine "crash data, local input and field data." They'll use that information to make a recommendation.

Buckley said the road was "representative of Kansas highways as a whole."

More than 2,000 vehicles a day travel the stretch of road, Buckley said, and 23 crashes have occurred on the road between 2006 and 2008. Ten of those involved injuries that mostly were related to vehicles driving into the steep ditches.

Buckley said the state was looking at three years of crash data, which included Tom Andrews' crash, as well as performing their own observations. He said their main desire was to hear from the public.

It doesn't have shoulders

The chief concern for residents like Chad Koehn, who said he's seen several wrecks in the area, was the ditches.

"There is no shoulder," Koehn said after the meeting. "It is a very nice road, with the exception of the drop-offs on each side."

Koehn said where the pavement drops off to the ditches can range from 5 to 18 inches.

County Engineer Neal Cable said the road has risen overtime as the county applied overlays.

"Every time they overlay it, it gets worse," Andrews said after the meeting.

Koehn told commissioners the road leaves no margin for error, and he warns guests before they attempt to drive it.

"It is a very difficult road to text and drive on, for sure," Koehn joked with commissioners.

Look out for bicyclists

While the drop-offs were a concern, Koehn and other residents said bicyclists were a major concern.

"The bicyclists have nowhere to go," Koehn said after the meeting. "Most drivers are not friendly to the bicyclers and they have to head for the ditch in a hurry. They at least need a shoulder."

Buckley said he did not know bicyclists were a concern until he heard from the public.

"We knew about the edge drop-offs, but not about the bikes," Buckley said after the meeting. "It is good to get the local perspective.

Trula Harris told commissioners that bicyclists deserve to be able to ride on the road. She also was concerned about the cost to fix the road, despite the conditions.

Look for grant money

"I think there are dangerous conditions on the road," Harris said after the meeting. "Whether those conditions warrant fixing it up, is my question."

Harris said grant money would be her preference on how to pay for any construction.

"If grant money is available, it is more viable than if Saline County residents have to bear the entire expense," Harris said after the meeting. "It is driven by more than Saline County folks."

Buckley said his team would continue to study the road, analyze data and return in July for more studies and to talk with county staff. Norma Jean Andrews said that will be welcome.

"It has been a dangerous road," she said. "They need to at least put shoulders on the side so people have some leeway."

nReporter Chris Hunter can be reached at 822-1422 or by e-mail at chunter@salina.com.

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