27 News gathers third video of wrong-way HWY 24 driver

TOPEKA ( KSNT ) – 27 News has collected a third video of a driver going the wrong way on Highway 24 after a head-on crash left three injured in Topeka on Sept. 27. In response to our reporting, KDOT is now making changes.

The third video shows a driver entering the wrong way direction west of Highway 24 near Menoken Road. The footage captured on Oct. 4 shows the driver going the wrong way at a high rate of speed in front of PTMW Inc. and past Stover Bridge.

27 News contacted the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) on Monday, Oct. 7 to ask if it had any plans to address the issue.

“It was decided that KDOT maintenance crews would go out and repaint the pavement markings in this area of U.S. 24 to help improve visibility,” KDOT spokeswoman Kate Craft said. “They plan on doing that today, conditions permitting.”

Since reaching out to KDOT, a strip of traffic bollards has been placed on the highway divide and crews have started repainting the markings at the fork.

On Thursday, Oct. 3 a driver was heading east on Highway 24 when she spotted another vehicle crossing into wrong-way traffic.

On Sept. 27, a head-on crash shut down part of Highway 24. The wrong-way driver, an 86-year-old Silver Lake man in a Ford Explorer, received minor injuries while the driver of a Range Rover, a 32-year-old Topeka woman, received serious injuries. A passenger in the Range Rover, a 13-year-old girl, received minor injuries, according to a Kansas Highway Patrol crash log.

27 News caught dashcam footage of the 86-year-old driver going in the wrong direction on US-24 moments before the crash.

27 News requested crash data for Highway 24 between Menoken Road and Landon Road following recent reports of drivers going the wrong way in this area. Data from KDOT shows there have been 33 crashes in the area with five reported injury crashes since 2019. KDOT told 27 News there had only been one wrong-way crash.

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