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Highway Boosters Here Oppose New US-55 PlanDissatisfaction with the state highway rorn mission's new program to designate ft i oxite ciosslng Kansas from Elkhart to Kama*, City an US-55 and to abandon the present US-50N designation was ex* pn\ssod today by the highway (am-mi tree of the Great Bnui Chamber of Commence.The commit fee in a noon meeting, unanimously apptoved a motion 'to pieseivc the same highway designations and same highway associations, namely US*50N. and K-45, which £ue now In etlect ’*The action puls Great 13c i id la the position of objecting to abandoning plans for a diagonal highway across Kansas connecting New Mexico and the Ureal Lakes area. A group knov.n as the Mid Continent highway association comprising towns between the a*. Bend and Blk-haif along K-45, and northeast of (rrcal Bend to Atchison alt;- well as m other slates has been promoting thu new fcdeiul highwayThe Kansas highway cum mission arkod the Amrixan Association of Slate Highway oil trial*; to designate ihe new route at Ms October mootin': Oklahoma New Music o andMissouri have alreach mack similar urrpicsU for the US-55 numbering lt;n towns between Hpnugei, N.M and Independence. MoIn Kansas the route would follow i: S 50 fiom Kansas City to Baldwin shuKtinn, US-50N lo Great Bend and K-45 liom hric to Elkhail, Theievolution adopted bv the highwaycommission without a dissenting\ote a Ian calls fur abandonment of i he US-50N designationihe commission also askccl that I he pm Lion of US-30N between Cheat Bend and Garden Cllv be icdesignated as US-155.State Highway officials said the action h in line with the policy of the State Highway Officials Association ar.d the Bureau of Public Roads to do awnv with llic duplicate numbering of federal highways such as US-50N and US-jQS, as soon as possible because n is confusing to traffic.The commission said it al.so feels I hat additional hafTic would follow a US. highway which gives a. Mmoie complete and shorter routing from I he noilhrsusl corner of the .stale to the .southwest corner under one highway identification. In the event the commission's request k gtanted, thp nortion rf the highway svstcmbra ring the designation US - SOSwould become mcielv US-50.Tip Traunr, highway committeeiluurmun of the C of C, staled that if the request is approved, the long range plans for a diagonal highway from southwest lo northeast across Kansas would have to be abandoned because Kansas City Js not uoithcnst. The diagonal road proposed bv the Great Bend Chamber would connect US-40. US-24, US-lie in Kansas and US-6 and other major highways in states north or here, giving them a diagonal routing'' to the southwest.Committeelmembers also Celt that if K-45 iccches n fedcial number at this time on a roacl traveling easl of here, thcie will be no future chance of obtaining for it a fed-oial number on n touting to llic northeast. Another leascm for the commit ten aclinn would be the tas oi the US-50N i outing cast and west across Kansas,Completion of the turnpike next year will joute traffic southwest from Kansas City and the tia\eleis wanting to go further southwest can leave the turnpike at Emporm, following existing loutes west liom that point. The pioposecl icquesl \y. the highway commission would give a load that starts and ends nowhere in comparison with the longer and much moic attractive route sought bv the Mid Continent highway association. The committer member were of the unanimous opinion that Great Bend would ben-riil moie fiom hljjiwnv Raffle on the long .sought diagonal than by the new toute suggested by the hlgluwn com mission Re p i ca entu t U cs f t a m *v\ e ra I towns in this area will attend a meeting at Liuned next Tuesday evening lo make plana for ttcthclspiotcxsting the US-55 pioposal,
Newspaper Details
Great Bend Daily Tribune
Great Bend, Kansas, US
Fri, Sep 16, 1955
Page 7
Full Page
Clipped by
Sammi B.
NA 08 Oct 2020
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