This means that a traveler on this segment of roadway is 50 percent more likely to be killed than on the average two-lane rural highway in Kansas. The statistics above illustrate the safety concerns of this segment of U.S. Highway 59. Comparing the numbers for all types of accidents, fatal and injury accidents are more frequent than on an average 2-lane Kansas roadway. The fatality rate in particular is elevated 2.7 times higher than on an expressway and 5 times higher than on a freeway. As can also be noted, the costs of accidents on 2-lane roadways are much higher than on expressways or freeways.
Data indicate freeways to be safer than expressways or two-lane roadways.
Controlling access to a transportation facility is a key factor in reducing the numbers of accidents and fatalities. The roadway also lacks sufficient useable shoulder width to accommodate stopped vehicles. Recovery from emergency situations and traffic enforcement are not accommodated by a roadway in this condition. The existing roadway is located in rolling terrain, and has roadway geometrics less than the current criteria for two-lane arterial highways. The northernmost two miles of the existing roadway were included in an improvement project in the 1970's and contain roadway geometrics closer to current criteria.