TOPEKA (KSNT) — As Shawnee County grows and changes, its Public Works department is always working to improve the safety of local roads. On Wednesday, the county held a public open house to hear first-hand where people want to see change.
Shawnee County Public Works Director Curt Niehaus said his department is currently developing a new comprehensive safety action plan. It’s part of a nationwide program to reduce traffic fatalities and serious injuries to zero.
“We want to improve the safety of our transportation system and ensure and in the county, not just roads, but all modes of transportation,” Niehaus said. “I’m talking trails, sidewalks, multi-use paths of course, roadways. Whatever it takes.”
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Niehaus said public events like these are instrumental in helping them learn about those problem areas. After all the data is compiled, Niehaus said a third-party consultant will process the information and include it in the new comprehensive plan.
If you couldn’t make it out to Wednesday’s open house, the county still wants to hear from you. It’s created an online survey, which you can find here, to collect public feedback about the local road system.
“There will be an opportunity in that survey for people to provide comments so they can tell us again what locations do they think Shawnee County needs to spend money to improve safety, whether it’s speeding, whether it’s intersections, whether it’s departure type issues, where you have a narrow roadway and you have ditches right off the edge of the roadway, all of those things,” Niehaus said.
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