Kansas State University - Royal Purple Yearbook (Manhattan, KS)

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s cars drove through Kansas this year, the drivers may have found themselves going faster. This was because of a five mile per hour increase in speed along 807 miles of Interstate 70. According to ksdot.org, the change came into effect Iuly 1 and the decision to change was passed by the 2011 Legislature, authorizing the Secretary of Transportation, a task force made up of Kansas Department of Transportation representatives, Kansas Highway Patrol and Kansas Turnpike Authority, to choose where the speed increase would occur. Ksdot.org re- ported there were five factors considered when deciding where to increase the speed: traffic volumes, crash history, roadway geometrics and rural versus urban areas. In short, this means the selected portions of highway are newer in rural areas and have nice flat curves with unlimited sight distance, therefore a driver can successfully bring a car to a stop in case of an emergencyf' Robert Stokes, professor of civil engineering and director of the University Transportation Center, said. Stokes said with neighboring states including Oklahoma, Colo- rado and Texas increasing their speed limits, many may choose not to travel through Kansasg therefore the increase in speed has a positive economic impact on the state. 'te-. up TTXN X- X p X wx .xx XX The 75 mph affected these portions of highway: U.S. 81 from I-70 near Salina north to K-106, I-70 from Colorado state line just west of Topeka, I-35 from 85 ' street interchange in Harvey County to I-70 near Salina, U.S. 69 from north junction of U.S. 54 in Bour- bon County to Iohnson County, Kansas Turnpike from Oklahoma state line to K-7 in Wyandotte County. lt makes the drive quicker, but I do think it makes people drive even fasterf' Kylee Luckeroth, senior in fine arts, said. Some feared the increase of speed would only reverse the de- clining trend in highway deaths, however, highway fatalities were at their lowest rate nationwide in 60 years. V Valerie Dysart, a graduate student in public health, enjoyed the speed increase and liked how it made traveling faster, even though she did not use it on a regular basis. If she had to, she would chose the highways with the speed increase over other alternate routes. It is a long stretch with nothing interesting to look at, but the speed increase made a boring drive go faster, Dysart said of her trip to Wichita. Stokes said the most important thing to remember when driving through Kansas was not all sections of interstate had the raised speed limit and drivers must remain observant and obey the speed limit laws. EEU . QR PE, ., .,.f1 ' . I . A

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