TOPEKA – Gov. Sam Brownback is among those in Topeka resurrecting talk about an outer loop highway in southern Johnson County. Brownback said he would like to see more serious discussion of such a road running from I-70 near Tonganoxie to I-35 near Gardner and then eastward toward Missouri. The outer loop would help deal with mushrooming population in the area as well the expected jump in truck traffic from the BNSF intermodal center at Edgerton, he said. Two similar proposals for a loop have been killed by fierce public opposition in southwestern Johnson County. The outer loop is being examined as part of a state study on the changing transportation demands in Johnson, Wyandotte, Miami, Douglas and Leavenworth counties. The study is expected to be done early next year. Because the state has been allocated transportation money for major projects, there are no plans to immediately build anything such as the outer loop.
Tuesday, Dec. 11, 3 p.m.
