17 July 2023
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — An intersection where there have been dozens of crashes west of Wichita may be getting a new type of warning system.
On Wednesday, the Sedgwick County Commission will discuss whether to approve $125,000 for what is being called a pilot program at 21st Street North and 167th Street West. If it’s approved and if it works, it could be used at other crash-prone intersections.
History of crashes
Currently, there are stop signs for drivers on 167th Street, but not for 21st Street drivers. Earlier this year, the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office said there have been 50 crashes at the intersection over the past 10 years. Of those, 11 were injury crashes. Three were fatality crashes. Investigators say human error is often to blame.
Neighbors and drivers asked the County for changes to make the intersection safer, so Sedgwick County conducted a traffic study.
On Monday, Sedgwick County Director of Public Works Lynn Packer told commissioners that the study is finished. He said the results show that the intersection does not meet guidelines for a four-way stop sign or a traffic signal.
Packer said the intersection does qualify to be turned into a roundabout, but that would take several years to build. The commissioners will see the budget request for that in August.
Pilot program
In the meantime, traffic engineers are suggesting an Intersection Conflict Warning System.
The U.S. Department of Transportation says several states use ICWSs to warn drivers when traffic is approaching on cross streets. A 2016 report claimed the systems reduced crashes by up to 19% at some rural intersections.
“This was … something that we have not tried that we could try here in Sedgwick County, and that has proven to work in other locations,” Packer said. “It’s not foolproof. It’s not going to fix everything. It hasn’t worked everywhere.”
Packer will present more details about the warning system during Wednesday’s Board of County Commissioners meeting. The commissioners will be asked to approve a Capital Improvement Program amendment to fund the system.
During an agenda review meeting on Monday, Commissioner Jim Howell expressed concern that there hasn’t been a chance for the public to learn about or comment on the plan.
“The matter is $125,000, and I guess the strategy is experimental. It’s a different direction, and I have some concerns about why we’re doing this,” he said. “I just think that it would be smarter for us to have a public open meeting and discussion to get public buy-in and ideas from the community … before we go to a $125,000 CIP amendment.”
Commissioner David Dennis represents District Three, where the intersection is located. He said the cost of ICWS is cheaper than most other options.
“Granted, rumble strips would be a little bit cheaper, but the neighbors … they’re not in favor of that because of the noise at all hours of the day and night,” Dennis said. “In addition, another alternative is a roundabout. That’s about four or five years from now. With a roundabout, it’s over a million dollars to put that in, so that’s not a great idea. You can go with four-way stops, but our traffic safety engineers tell us that that causes more accidents.”
He said he thinks it is time to try a pilot program.
Time frame
Howell said he would probably make a motion on Wednesday to defer the item to a later date to give the public a chance to respond.
But Packer expressed concern that something needs to be decided soon.
“One of the goals we also set for this project was to have it done by the end of the year, so we can get something out there sooner rather than later, and we’ve delayed this about a month already,” Packer said. “We’ll probably now, we’ll hit the winter without a doubt, but I don’t know if it’ll be by the end of the year.”
KSN News will post an update after Wednesday’s meeting.