By BECKY KISER
Hays Post
A renewed discussion of a possible traffic roundabout at 27th and Canterbury wound up with a request to prioritize a solution for traffic problems at 27th and Indian Trail during Thursday night’s Hays city commission work session.
Commissioner Sandy Jacobs had asked commissioners to again talk about 27th and Canterbury, this time suggesting a permanent roundabout might help with congestion involving traffic from Hays High School and HaysMed employees at certain times of the day. An earlier discussion of a temporary roundabout was not moved forward.
After Projects Manager John Braun presented suggestions for the intersection with costs ranging from $27,600 to $81,000, Vice-Mayor Henry Schwaller said he was “very opposed to the project” and called it “a solution looking for a problem.”
“It does function well 98 percent of the time.”
Schwaller believes the intersection of 27th and Indian Trail, with four-way stop signs, is much more problematic.
“You want to put a roundabout there? Now you’ve got my interest.” Schwaller also pointed to 27th and Broadway, 27th and Plaza, and Dillons grocery store at 1902 Vine as problem traffic areas. “Those are dangerous intersections.”
“I appreciate the desire to do something at 27th and Canterbury,” Schwaller added, “but this isn’t where our money is needed.”
“Personally, I think roundabouts are a solution,” Mayor James Meier said. “We think they’re a solution on north Vine Street but are there other places where they can be a solution? Honestly, Indian Trail and 27th is the first one that came to mind. But my problem is (it would involve moving) utilities, property acquisition and the access roads on the north side would have to be closed. I think it’s a harder sell, but to me it’s not an either/or.”
“I think it’s worth talking about,” agreed Jacobs, adding that she still supports a roundabout at 27th and Canterbury. Outgoing commissioner Chris Dinkel disagreed, saying “it doesn’t make sense to revisit this. It would have been a good idea when we were (recently) working on the intersection anyway.”
Commissioner Shaun Musil brought up the issue of prioritizing street projects.
“I feel like we’ve knocked a lot of those out – 13th Street, 8th Street, 41st Street. We don’t have a lot of major street projects but I think we’ve always prioritized them, making sure we have the money and paid cash. I think we should get Indian Trail on there,” Musil suggested, “and figure out what we need to do. I don’t think Canterbury is a bad idea. I just don’t think it’s a need right now.”
The other commissioners agreed, each saying they’ve heard many concerns from residents about the 27th and Indian Trail intersection and asked City Manager Toby Dougherty to present more information at an upcoming meeting.
This isn’t the first time traffic problems at that intersection have been addressed by the city commission, according to Dougherty.
“The last time the city commission formally discussed Indian Trail and 27th, they petitioned the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) to cost-share in a traffic signal. KDOT said they’re not going to cost share because it doesn’t meet the requirements for a traffic signal, and that’s the last time it was discussed, back in 2005 or 2006,” Dougherty reported.
Since then, the city has done some in-house studies of the intersection including geometrics for a roundabout.
Dougherty said rough cost estimates and what type of property would need to be acquired will be prepared for the commission’s review.
Schwaller suggested people watch an online episode of the television show “Mythbusters” about the efficiencies of four-way stops versus roundabouts.
City Attorney John Bird recommended the AARP website as a another resource.