Sedgwick County staff outline data-driven plan to target crash hot spots, pursue grants for smart signals and speed signage

Lynn Packer, deputy director of public works and county engineer for Sedgwick County, told commissioners at an Oct. 14 staff meeting that county roads are overwhelmingly set to the statutory default speed and that new data access from the sheriffs office will let staff identify and review more minor and emerging crash clusters earlier.

Why it matters: the presentations from Packer, traffic engineer Tia Romat and Sheriff Jeff Easter outlined how better, more frequent crash reporting plus targeted low-cost treatments could reduce crashes on county and township roads that are transitioning from rural to commuter traffic. Commissioners pressed staff about the costs and equity of deploying flashing beacons, rumble strips, larger signage and other mitigations across multiple intersections.

Packer said K.S.A. 8-15-58 sets the statutory speed limit on county and township highways at 55 mph, and that the county has local authority to conduct speed studies to set other limits where justified. "We can go as high as 65 and we can take it down to 30," he said, but noted the county typically retains 55 mph because of driver expectations and the 85th-percentile speed measured on rural roads.

Romat described the countys current traffic-analysis practices and thresholds. She said the county has 91 fully paved intersections; 42 (about 46%) are two-way-stop controlled, 13 are all-way stops (14%), 17 are signalized (19%) and 19 are T-intersections (21%). Romat said the county typically considers an intersection action when it records about six "correctable" crashes in three years and that always-stop controls often appear when an intersection reaches roughly 10,000 vehicles per day (or about 8,000 vpd when traffic is balanced among legs).

"We like to apply all-way stops to intersections with six or more correctable crashes in three years," Romat said. She noted the county performs traffic counts on every county road and intersection every two years and uses WAMPO growth models, ITE trip generation estimates and three-year crash histories per the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) to decide interventions. Romat also highlighted a recent local road safety plan and cited Vision Zero-style guidance from KDOT on focusing on roadway departure, impaired and distracted driving and vulnerable road users.

Sheriff Jeff Easter described the agencys new records-management and Socrata dashboard access, saying it will make it easier to push full crash reports (including minor crashes) to public works on a regular basis. He supplied counts for recent high-incident corridors aggregated from the last two and a half years of the agencys RMS: 98 crashes on Kellogg from 47th to 160th, 93 at 47th and K-15, 60 at 63rd and K-15, 46 at 140th and Kellogg and 43 on segments of Zoo/32nd to Ridge.

Commissioners pressed staff about specific intersections and treatments. Commissioner Wise said many rural roads in District 3 have become commuter cut-throughs and asked whether staff can track route-choice behavior between signals and alternative roads; Romat and Packer said biennial counts and travel-model data provide trend evidence, and that the county had performed interim counts where needed. Commissioner Howe asked whether additional left-turn lanes at 90th and 5th ("90 Fifth and Rock" in the countys description) might be a better near-term option than all-way stop or signalization; staff said turn lanes would be costly but could be developer-cost-shared if growth reaches the anticipated levels.

On treatments and costs, staff described a mix of low-cost/high-effect options and higher-cost infrastructure: retroreflective post tape, larger (36- to 48-inch) stop signs, advanced-warning signs, pavement marking, rumble strips on stopping legs, targeted lighting and temporary flashing beacons. Packer said a typical solar-powered flashing beacon costs about $5,000 plus battery replacement roughly every three to four years, a recurring maintenance cost the county must budget for. Romat said the county is applying for KDOT safety grants for radar feedback signs and a 75% state / 25% local innovation grant to make selected signals "smart," allowing signal controllers to sense vehicle speeds and give priority to EMS or buses.

"It's really a social problem," Romat said of distracted and impaired driving. "We have to rely on data and evidence to make decisions and standardize how we treat each intersection."

Next steps: staff said training on the Socrata dashboard in the coming week will let them receive routine crash reports, which Romat will analyze alongside traffic counts scheduled for 2026. Staff will continue targeted intersection analyses and bring recommendations (including a resolution on a near-term always-stop at a high-growth intersection) to the commission as warranted.

Ending: Commissioners asked staff to return with more detailed crash-location data (including whether crashes were inside unincorporated county or in cities, and counts of injury/fatal crashes), the results of the upcoming Socrata training and cost estimates for proposed mitigation packages. Romat and Packer said they would continue to pursue small grant funding and coordinate with KDOT and local cities on developer cost-sharing for larger reconstruction work.