By Chad Frey
Newton Kansan
Editor’s Note: This is an abbreviated version of a full story which will publish in print May 4, and post to the paid section of the Newton Kansan May 3.
Lenny Wild got his first look at some maps produced by the Kansas Department of Transportation that could affect him in very profound ways during public meetings May 2 at Sand Creek Adventure Center.
Namely, the house he moved into in 1995 along with his business on Cow Palace Road are smack dab in the middle of proposed construction of a new interchange for U.S. 50.
“I don’t want to move,” Wild said. “I don’t know what more to say.”
He said he has spent 30 years making improvements to his home, including planting all of the now mature trees that surround it.
He’s not alone in worry. Other properties that could be directly affected include PWD Inc., Jim’s Motors, Lazy Creek Bar Six and Full Vision.
KDOT is proposing a new U.S. 50 interchange – removing the interchange currently at Meridian Road and building new at Cow Palace Road.
The plans unveiled on the KDOT website April 2 and the public meeting later that day are very preliminary.
“These are preliminary designs, and because they are preliminary designs and not final designs and literally they could change it is way too early to say ‘this property will be affected,’” said Tim Potter, Public Affairs Manager for KDOT.
Potter said the plan is to launch in 2027 or 2028, and that creating right of ways is between a year and two years away at this point.
According to KDOT, replacement of the existing bridge over the BNSF rail yard is needed because the structure “is nearing the end of its useful design life.”
It is there that the project started. The preliminary plans shown May 2 showed replacement of that bridge with a pair of two-lane bridges.
KDOT is considering moving the interchange to the west – off of Meridian and onto Cow Palace Road — would satisfy federal requirements for acceleration lanes on a four lane, 65 mile per hour road.
To move the interchange would require improvements to Cow Palace Road, and the construction of some new connecting roads as well.
Depending on connecting street options for a Cow Palace, cost of the project could be as high as $74.9 million. KDOT is the primary funder of the project.
For those unable to attend the open house, KDOT has posted a portal to submit questions and comments at https://tinyurl.com/5n84cern.
Project information is available online on the KDOT IKE website: ike.ksdot.gov/us50-meridian-interchange-newton.