Ring in the new year...safely!

This time tomorrow will be a brand new year! We know you will be you are celebrating 2019 tonight. And whether it is with your family, a night on the town with friends or a small get together at someone’s home, We want to remind drivers and passengers to be responsible while enjoying the festivities. Here are some tips to enjoying the holiday responsibly:

• Never drive or ride with someone who is impaired or drowsy.
• If you plan to consume alcohol, have a plan in place before you go. Know what you’ll do for a ride home, whether it is a ride service, public transportation, a designated driver or finding a place to stay. If you do consume alcohol:
• Give someone your keys.
• Don’t drink to impairment.
• Don’t drink on an empty stomach.
• Take the night off and serve as a designated driver for others.
• Have an emergency kit in your vehicle and your phone charged in case of car trouble.

If you need help on a Kansas highway, call *47 for the Kansas Highway Patrol or call *KTA (*582) for the Kansas Turnpike Authority. 

Stay safe — no matter how you choose to travel

According to AAA more than 12 million Americans are expected to travel this week.

By Lisa Knoll, Public Affairs Manager for southwest Kansas

Once upon a time, holiday travel meant walking or riding a camel, donkey or horse to the traveler’s destination. As a result, travel during the holidays was usually limited to family or friends in the same town.  

Fast forward to today. Thanks to trains, planes and automobiles, anyone can now traverse the globe in less than 24 hours.  So it’s no wonder that over 12 million Americans are expected to travel this week and 90 percent of those will be travel by car, according to AAA.  

CityPASS reports that the today’s average long-distance holiday trip is 275 miles and that 43 percent of long-distance trips will be to visit family and friends.  Others will take advantage of the break from work, school and colder temperatures to travel to warmer locations such as Hawaii or Mexico.  

While the types of travel have evolved, technology also has changed how travel is booked, scheduled and experienced. It allows travelers to book, pay and check-in online, to pack less, experience more and overcome language barriers. 

No matter where you travel this holiday season or how you get there, KDOT wishes you and yours safe travels, happy holidays and a happy new year. Remember to wear your seat belts, slow down, pay attention and drive sober.

Improvements to I-70 wrap up just in time for the holidays

Improvements on a stretch of I-70 in Ellis County have wrapped up just in time for this year’s busy holiday travel season.

The project began in late July and spanned a 15-mile portion of the interstate, starting at Exit 159 at Hays and extending east to the Russell County line. Work included a mill and overlay on both the east and westbound driving lanes as well as resurfacing on the shoulders and exit and entrance ramps on five interchanges located along the project route. Crews also installed new pavement markings and rumble strips.

In addition to the Ellis County project, work on temporary crossovers I-70 in Gove County also has concluded for the year. The crossovers were constructed in preparation for the pavement replacement that will take place in 2019 and 2020.

Completion of these projects could not have come at a better time as a record-breaking number of Americans will be hitting the nation’s highways, skies and rails this holiday season. AAA expects upwards of 112.5 million travelers, up 4.4 percent from last year and the most since the organization began tracking holiday travel.

Happy Holidays from KDOT!

Happy Holidays from KDOT! We hope that you enjoy your time with family and friends. Please remember to drive safe! If you plan on drinking designated a SOBER driver to take you home. 

All KDOT offices will be closed Dec. 24 and 25. We will be back on Dec. 26! 

Kansas law enforcement urges motorists to drive sober over holidays

Police target impaired drivers during national enforcement campaign

TOPEKA, Kan. — Law enforcement agencies across the nation are joining forces over the holidays to remind drivers it’s deadly, dangerous and illegal to drive under the influence of illegal drugs, alcohol and some prescription drugs.

More than 150 Kansas law enforcement agencies will be extra vigilant to spot impaired drivers as part of the national enforcement campaign that runs Dec. 21-31.

“The period between Christmas and New Year’s Day is one of the most dangerous times of the year to be on the road,” said Chris Bortz, Kansas Department of Transportation Traffic Safety Program Manager. “Too often while celebrating over the holidays impaired drivers get behind the wheel, and it’s never OK to drive impaired.”

In 2017, approximately 17 percent of crashes over the holiday week were alcohol-related. Drug-impaired driving has become a growing threat on roads across the nation. From 2007 to 2015, marijuana usage doubled among drivers killed in crashes, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Kansas law enforcement want to remind drivers that if you drive drunk or high, you will get a DUI.

“Impaired driving causes injuries, physical and emotional, that can last a lifetime, and it’s a serious crime. Don’t take a risk with your future or somebody else’s – driving either drunk or high is a DUI,” said NHTSA Deputy Administrator Heidi King. “This holiday season designate a sober driver or use a ridesharing service to ensure everybody makes it home safely.”

Impaired drivers can face jail time, suspension of their driving privileges, fines and other costs of up to $10,000. Included in this cost, the offender will be required to install and pay monthly services fees on an ignition interlock. Beyond the financial and legal penalties, impaired drivers face the risk of losing their own lives or taking someone else’s.

If you plan on using any substance that inhibits your driving, plan ahead and designate a sober driver, Bortz said. Use public transportation, a taxi, ride share service or your community’s sober ride program to get home safely.

Tour the world, without leaving the state

By Tom Hein, Public Affairs Manager for Sedgwick County 

Here's some mid-week fun for you. We all know that Kansas is home to amazing communities with histories and heritages all their own.

One KDOT employee likes to tell people he just returned from Moscow. The usual reaction he gets is “Wow, that sounds like an interesting vacation!” He doesn’t always tell them that Moscow is a town of about 300 in Stevens County, Kansas.

There is a Moscow in Kansas and of course, Moscow, Russia

It turns out, one can travel to a lot of exotic places in Kansas. There are great vacation locales like Rome, Milan, Agra, Perth, Toronto, Havana, Bern and Zurich.

There is a town called Rome in Kansas, but it's not Rome, Italy

Did you know in Kansas, Norway and Cuba are neighbors in the north but Peru is almost to Oklahoma?

And we have LOTS of four-letter town names, a few of them names of someone you know. There’s Alma and Arma, Elmo, Fred, Gano and Gove, Hawk, Hope and Hoyt, Iola and Iuka, Kipp, Lane and Leon, Neal, Olpe, Otis and Otto, Peck, Rock and Rose, Troy, Voda, Zook and Zybo, just to name a few.

There are cities in Kansas that represent iconic state symbols as well:

We have Cottonwood Falls to recognize our state tree while Bison and Buffalo celebrate our state animal.

Where’s Waldo? Eureka! It’s just east of Paradise.

Kismet is a Gem of a name and Jewell makes us Smileyberg.

Who wouldn’t want to go to Buttermilk?

Isn’t all this Bazaar?

Painting of a historical battle during the battle of Waterloo during the Napoleonic Wars. 

But in your travels of Kansas towns, be careful you don’t find your Waterloo (a little berg in Kingman County). It’s where Wellington (in Sumner County) got the best of Napoleon Bonaparte.

Winter weather driving tips

By Ashley Tammen, 
KDOT Public Affairs Manager for north central Kansas

It’s snowing outside as you put on your shoes to go scrape off your car and head to work. You decide to warm up your car first and are not worried about driving in the snow because it’s just a car and you know how to drive one of those. But do you know how to drive  during inclement weather? Driving in these conditions can be quite challenging for travel due to slippery snow or ice. Poor traction may make your vehicle harder to control. It is important to review how to drive safely in the winter, especially if it’s the first snow of the year or you are new to driving. Here are some winter driving tips recommended by AAA Club Alliance:

• Make certain your tires are properly inflated.
• Never mix radial tires with other tire types.
• Keep your gas tank at least half full to avoid gas line freeze-up.
• If possible, avoid using your parking brake in cold, rainy and snowy weather.
• Do not use cruise control when driving on a slippery surface).
• Watch weather reports prior to a long-distance drive or before driving in isolated areas. Delay trips when especially bad weather is expected. If you must leave, let others know your route, destination and estimated time of arrival.
• Make sure the exhaust pipe isn’t clogged with snow, ice or mud. A blocked exhaust could cause deadly carbon monoxide gas to leak into the passenger compartment with the engine running.
• Accelerate and decelerate slowly. Applying the gas slowly to accelerate is the best method for regaining traction and avoiding skids. Don’t try to get moving in a hurry. And take time to slow down for a stoplight. Remember: It takes longer to slow down on icy roads.
• The normal dry pavement following distance of three to four seconds should be increased to eight to 10 seconds. This increased margin of safety will provide the longer distance needed if you have to stop.
• The best way to stop is threshold breaking.  To do this, keep the heel of your foot on the floor and use the ball of your foot to apply firm, steady pressure on the brake pedal.
• Don’t stop going up a hill. There’s nothing worse than trying to get moving up a hill on an icy road. Get some speed going on a flat roadway before you take on the hill.

For more winter driving tips visit: https://exchange.aaa.com/safety/driving-advice/winter-driving-tips/

Travel safe this winter and visit www.kandrive.org for up to date travel conditions.