Nine-Mile Corner is considered to be a safe intersection according to KDOT officials
by Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow — The head-on two-car vehicle fatality accident at the Nine Mile Corner on Dec. 3 claiming the lives of two Wellington couples has many people concerned over the safety of the intersection.
But Kansas Department of Transportation officials report that this intersection, connecting 90th Ave. to U.S. 81 highway as it veers from a north-south to an east-west path, is not considered a hazardous intersection.
For that matter, neither is the intersection known as the Belle Plaine Y, at U.S. 81 and K-55, 2.7 miles east.
Carl “Ray†and his wife Marcia Waugh of Wellington were driving a 2007 Chevrolet 300 northbound when they collided into a 2014 Chevrolet Cruze, driven by Timothy Baumgartner and passenger Cheryl Baumgartner at 6:45 p.m. on a Saturday evening. There were no survivors.
According to the Sumner County Sheriff accident report, Waugh was turning off U.S. 81 onto a small paved road connecting to E. 90th Ave. They were on their way to visit friends and play cards. The Baumgartners were returning home from a day of Christmas shopping in Wichita to their home in Riverdale – a small community north of Wellington (see story here).
Zachary Oswald, KDOT Public Affairs Manager, said excluding the December 3 fatality accident, there have been five automobile accidents at the Nine-Mile Corner since 2012 and that is considered below the statically-critical crash rate that determines if it is abnormal for rural intersections.
Nine-mile corner is a seven-point intersection in which U.S. 81 curves 90 degrees. Drivers wishing to take 90th Avenue while northbound, can do so by going straight a few feet on a small road before turning westward off the U.S. traffic thoroughfare. Those wishing to get on 90th coming from the east, can go straight but must yield to northbound U.S. 81 traffic. The high majority of U.S. 81 traffic take the curve – only to slow down to navigate.
Oswald said according to a KDOT traffic study there are 2,500 to 5,000 vehicles per day that drive through the Nine Mile Corner intersection.
He said of the five crashes since 2012, three of those were single vehicle, run off-the-road crashes in inclement weather. The other two were due to operator error.
“There was no unusual pattern detected with the average traffic count on Nine Mile Corner to consider this an abnormal intersection,†Oswald said.
The same holds true for the Belle Plaine Y intersection, Oswald said.
Since 2012, there have been seven reported crashes at this junction, Oswald said. The majority of these crashes were single vehicle, run-off-the-road crashes due to inclement weather.
“There is no pattern to the multi-vehicle crashes,†Oswald said. “The crash rate is above the statewide average, which is due in large part to weather-related crashes.
