City of Sedalia Hosts Second Session Concerning 32nd & Limit Intersection

The City of Sedalia hosted the second of three informational sessions concerning the future of the 32nd and Limit intersection at the Celebration Center, 1701 W. 32nd Street, on Thursday evening.

The session began with welcoming comments from Sedalia Mayor Andrew Dawson, followed by a couple of representatives from Wilson and Co., who showed four proposed concepts of what could be done to improve the safety and traffic flow at the very busy intersection, which includes 32nd Street, Highway 65 (South Limit), Clinton Road and Route B.

A detailed map of each concept was followed by a brief animation of how the traffic would flow in that proposed situation.

After hearing complaints of residents not being able to hear the presentation, a sound system that was readily available with an audio man sitting at the sound board, was finally used about 20 minutes into the program. At that point, everyone could actually hear what the speakers had to say.

One of those speakers was Jesus Rodriguez, a civil engineer with Wilson and Company working on the project.

A member of the City of Sedalia’s Citizen’s Traffic Advisory Committee was one of dozens of Sedalians attending Thursday night’s event.

Dennis Henderson noted that the efforts to improve the intersection are good. However, the proposal to close Clarendon Road is concerning to him. ”It’s going to slow down the fire trucks trying to access (the area) I just don’t see how that’s going to work,” Henderson told KSIS.

“I’m anxious to go around to these different tables just to see what people’s thoughts are,” said Henderson, who complained that he received his “Save The Date” card in the mail from the City of Sedalia just the night before. To be fair, the date of the session was announced weeks ago, and the card this reporter received in his mailbox on Wednesday served as simple reminder to attend this very important event. A third such session is planned for the future, but a date has not yet been set.

“It’s going to be an improvement no matter what they do,” Henderson said of MoDOT. “However, I still don’t understand how they’re going to stop the traffic on Clarendon Road. I live on Clarendon Road and there’s not a week that goes by that there’s not 4 or 5 emergency vehicles using (Clarendon) to get over to 32nd Street, or over to the housing edition (Southwest Village) or Skyline School. I’m just anxious to see how all this turns out.”

One concept he is totally against is a giant roundabout. “I don’t like that,” Henderson said.

In addition, if traffic lights were to be installed at Plaza and Limit (between Caseys and Best Western), as one concept calls for, it would make a roundabout at 32nd & Limit “pointless,” the Wilson rep said.

Another citizen who lives near the intersection who left his comments with officials noted that there only certain times of the day when traffic backs up. During those times, the lights should hold at least five seconds longer to clear out the cars and get them through the intersection safely.

He wasn’t at all sure MoDOT would take his simple advice, which would cost a lot less than the $4.7 million that has been set aside by the state to address the problem through the governors’ cost-share program.

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Evan Fluty, who works as a financial advisor in his Edwards Jones office at 32nd and Clinton Road, says that he can see 32nd and Limit from his business location.

“If a road can be shut down and it makes sense, then that’s fine. But we generally like the concept of letting people get to our building. We look at it through the lens of ‘do we still get to have a business at this intersection,’” Fluty said.

He also added that “all of the farmers we’ve been talking to would prefer that we not have a roundabout.”

Another local citizen named Bruce Gabriel, said that option D makes the most sense to him.

“It leaves things kinda the way they are, with some changes,” he said. A & B I don’t like at all, because it forces everybody going east on 32nd Street to turn up Highway Drive behind the hotel, then make that right turn (towards 65). If you make that turn in a car, that’s not bad. If you make that turn in a (school) bus, or an 18-wheeler, that’s not intended.

Gabriel asked Rodriguez about a timeline for construction at the intersection.

Rodriguez replied that the time frame would vary greatly, depending on if traffic signal lights were added. Several months at least, once engineering is done and a design is decided upon, followed by awarding of contracts, etc.

Best Western GM Tom Adermann also spoke with KSIS about the concepts. He indicated he doesn’t favor a roundabout at 32nd and Limit, but anywhere else a roundabout is “wonderful,” he said. “They work.”

Also, Adermann noted that “traffic moving better around the hotel is good for me, as long as it’s moving well. I can’t complain about improvements around the hotel.”

Adermann’s not too worried about losing land to accommodate the proposed concepts.

“I don’t think the city or the state or the county wants to buy highway frontage property,” he said, adding that he likes the idea of traffic lights at 65 and Plaza. “As long as they’re cued correctly, or timed correctly … but I don’t see it.”

Sedalia Mayor Pro Tem Rhiannon Foster said “I was glad to see such a good turnout. I hope we can find a safe, favorable and more convenient solution to our issues at the intersection.”

Besides Foster and Dawson, other City officials were in attendance Thursday night, including Third Ward Councilman Bob Hiller, Fourth Ward Councilwoman Michelle Franklin, Second Ward Councilwoman Cheryl Ames, City Administrator Matt Wirt, Sedalia Fire Chief Matt Irwin, Engineering Director and CBO Christopher Davies, Public Works Director of Operations Justin Bray, IT Director Christopher Franklin and Engagement Director Jessica Hoffman.

Mark Edwards represented the Pettis County Commission.

One thing for sure – there will not be a “flyover” built at the intersection. “There is no funding for that,” a rep for Wilson and Company said at the start of the meeting.

March 15 is the cutoff date for public comments on the project.