Drivers along four Kansas roads may have recently noticed new yellow signs. The message on the sign is “Safety Corridor — Increased Enforcement”; the state says the ultimate goal is to reduce crashes.
The Kansas Department of Transportation says the Safety Corridor Pilot Program is new and will run through 2028.
KDOT chose four corridors for the pilot program based on crash history, availability of additional law enforcement, and input from local traffic safety partners.
In south-central Kansas, the corridor is Interstate 135 from 53rd Street North in Park City to North Newton. KDOT says the corridor has had 216 crashes involving 492 people in the six-year period from 2016 through 2021. Ten people died, and 15 people had serious injuries.
KDOT says inattentive driving was involved in 24% of the crashes; more than 7% of the crashes involved impaired drivers.
These areas will have heightened law enforcement efforts. KDOT hopes that the more drivers see law enforcement officers, the less likely they'll be to try risky driving behaviors, such as speeding, impaired driving, and not wearing a seat belt.
The corridors will also get increased driver education, including high-visibility campaigns that encourage safe driving. Drivers will see and hear targeted media campaigns.
Starting this month, KDOT plans to distribute educational messages in schools and businesses along the four corridors.
Another component of the safety corridor education is an interactive dashboard about the crashes that have happened along the four corridors.
The Safety Corridor Pilot Program also involves engineering strategy. At first, it will include low- and medium-cost safety improvements, such as better pavement markings and road signs. But starting in 2026, officials will begin evaluating the pilot program, including whether long-term engineering strategies are needed to reduce crashes.
The pilot program is a strategy of the Kansas Strategic Highway Safety Plan and the Drive to Zero Coalition.