University Daily Kansan Thursday. Jan. 19, 196
Dangerous Intersection Worries City Planners
By Byron Klapper
City planners are concerned over what is to be done at the "dogleg" intersection of 9th Street and U.S. Highway 59, Iowa St.
Unlike other intersections where there is cross traffic, a person traveling west on 9th Street is required to make a right hand turn on U.S. 59 for about 50 feet, and then a left turn in order to continue on 9th Street.
In order to adjust the intersection so as to eliminate the "L" in the road and replace it with a gentle curve, it would be necessary to construct a road through a gas station presently situated on one corner of 9th Street and U.S.59.
This intersection has been the scene of considerable traffic congestion, especially during the morning and evening hours, and it presents a serious danger area for cars traveling in either direction.
GEORGE WILLIAMS, Lawrence City Planner, told the Daily Kansan he would like to see the intersection straightened out, but he is presently confronted with numerous difficulties.
A traffic light would back-up traffic and cause a blocking of the intersection which would just add to the congestion. Furthermore, there are definite requirements which an intersection must meet before the highway department would approve traffic lights, and that street does not warrant it, Williams said.
Williams said the gas station owner is reluctant to let the city cut through his property. The owner suggested that traffic lights be placed at that intersection, but that would be impractical, Williams said.
At present the city planners are still trying to convince the gas station owner to allow them to use his property and to compensate him for it. Williams said.
ANOTHER PROJECT that the city planners are concerned with is the fact that there is one bridge across the Kansas River connecting north Lawrence with the downtown area.
"The present bridge is inadequate as far as traffic goes," the city planner reported.
"If traffic growth continues at the present rate we will need something to facilitate the movement of traffic in the near future."
Williams suggested two possibilities:
(1) Build another bridge across the river within the next ten years.
(2) Widen the existing structure.
(2) When the crossing is completed, The bridge now has a 30 foot roadway and five feet of sidewalks. The bridge could be widened to have a 40 foot roadway and "hanging sidewalks."
IF A NEW bridge were built, it would be necessary to widen Tennessee and Kentucky Streets and make them major arteries of Lawrence.
Williams explained that an artery is a road which facilitates the movement of traffic from one end of the city to the other. Tennessee St. would probably run directly into the new bridge, the city planner said.
When asked about slum conditions, Raymond Wells, a KU graduate student assisting the city planner, said he did not feel one could call any part of Lawrence a slum.
"In order for a slum to exist there must be crowded conditions, poor lighting and ventilation, and dilapidated buildings. There are undoubtedly houses which should be replaced or cleaned but I would not consider these places slums," Wells said.
ASKED IF there were any immediate problems facing the city planners office, Wells said that there were no immediate tasks facing them. He said that Lawrence was ahead of many other communities of its size in solving its city planning problems.
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Changes Announced In Finals Schedule
The Calendar Committee announces the following changes in the final examination schedule for the fall semester of 1960:
2 p.m., Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday sequence will be examined at 1:30-3:20 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 26 instead of 10:10-12 p.m., Monday, Jan. 23.
The surest ally of the educational process is the mother of a family who has discovered for herself the manifold benefits and enduring satisfactions which higher education can confer.—Erwin N. Griswold.
English 1, 1A, 1H, all sections will be examined at 10:10-12 p.m.
Monday, Jan. 23 instead of 1:30-
3:20 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 26.
Mayor John Weatherwax made the proposal to discuss the problem. Dr. Ted A. Kennedy, one of the five commissioners, said he would prefer that human rights problems be discussed and perhaps solved in meeting rooms rather than at local business places.
900 Mass.
cally in past months. About 40 KU students were involved in a sit-in demonstration last Thursday evening at Louise's Bar. Last summer, a group of students picketed a local swimming pool because Negroes were not allowed to use it.
'Rights' Group May Be Born
City Manager Harold Horn said he will place discussion of the topic on the agenda for next Tuesday. Among problems would be the amount of authority such a group would have and how its members would be selected.
The Lawrence City Commission this week discussed the possibility of setting up a human rights or human relations council for the city.
I can see nothing objectionable in the total destruction of the earth, provided it is done, as seems likely, inadvertently- Evelyn Waugh
Mayor Weatherwax said that some consideration should be given to forming such a group, in view of the recent sit-in demonstrations, picketing of business places that discriminate against Negroes and in view of letters which various groups and individuals have sent regarding these incidents.
Many are culled: few are chosen.
- Charles L. Whipple
Two incidents have occurred lo-
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