City officials consider changes for two downtown Topeka one-ways due to high crash counts
TOPEKA (KSNT) - City officials gathered on Tuesday to discuss a safety review of two corridors in downtown Topeka that have an unusually high number of crashes.
The City of Topeka's Public Infrastructure Committee met on Nov. 19 where newly appointed Assistant City Manager Braxton Copley gave a presentation on short stretches of Southwest Fourth Avenue and Southwest Fifth Street in the downtown area. Both one-way streets, running between Topeka Boulevard and Kansas Avenue, are under review due to the high number of crashes which are recorded on them.
"If you were to not be paying attention and miss that [a one-way sign] looking at a street that is largely devoid of traffic you may be tempted to make a left-hand turn there because you see three lanes or two or three lanes depending on which segment you're in," Copley said. "This is, in my opinion, probably the largest reason that we have these high accident rates in this small corridor."
Copley said the safety review for Fourth Avenue and Fifth Street consists of data gathered over the course of five-and-a-half years. One of the indicators used to measure how dangerous these one-way streets have become is the number of crashes, or critical crash rate, per 100 million vehicle miles (MVM). The statewide average is around 192; both Fourth Avenue and Fifth Street sit above this bar.
- Southwest Fourth Avenue.
- 61 crashes with two head-on collisions.
- Critical crash rate - 215.7 per 100 MVM.
- Southwest Fifth Street.
- 37 crashes with one head-on collision.
- Critical crash rate - 221.71 per 100 MVM.
Copley said a new signage plan for the one-ways could replace one of their existing three lanes of traffic with new bike lanes and parking lanes. He said pavement marking costs associated with this change will cost a little more than $27,000 with an estimated additional cost of around $14,000 for new signage. You can watch the full City of Topeka Public Infrastructure meeting from Nov. 19 by clicking here.
For more local news, click here. Keep up with the latest breaking news in northeast Kansas by downloading our mobile app and by signing up for our news email alerts. Sign up for our Storm Track Weather app by clicking here.
Follow Matthew Self on X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/MatthewLeoSelf