By Ron Moore
Stafford County trucker and columnist

One From the Road
Special to the Tribune

As I sit behind the steering wheel, I am amazed at how much our highways have changed. I’ve driven many miles of two-lane highways over the past 40 years. Today, many of those roads have become four-lane highways or interstates.

Drivers today don’t have a clue about what we had to endure. In West Virginia, there wasn’t an Interstate 64 to Virginia back then. US 60 was the only way across, and a mountain pass stood in your way. It was called Hawk’s Nest—a true white-knuckle drive.

Now, we have many new interstates. I-49 runs from southern Louisiana to Kansas City. Well, as soon as they get southern Arkansas completed.

I-22 is now finished, running from south of Memphis to Birmingham. That route used to be a nightmare, but it now saves several hours of travel time.

Some of the new roads require tolls. If you’ve ever driven through Fort Worth, Dallas, or Austin before toll lanes existed, you know what a mess it was. It’s still busy, but the toll lanes help ease the congestion.

I remember traveling on US 81 from the Kansas border to York, NE. You had to go through every town. I mean every town—about one every 10 miles. Today, we bypass all of them, making the journey much smoother.

Almost every improvement they make helps the flow of traffic. Take the intersection of K-61 and US 50, west of Hutchinson, for example. It used to be a dangerous crossing, but now traffic moves smoothly.

Now let’s talk about Pratt. When I travel from Medicine Lodge to Kansas City, I take US 281 to Pratt, then turn right on US 54 (yes, I know most people call it US 400, but I’m old-fashioned). Then, I get to K-61 and try to turn left.

Why do I say “TRY?” If you’ve ever been stuck behind a truck at that light, you’ll know what I mean. Without a left-turn arrow, we can sit through the entire light cycle, unable to turn. A simple left-turn arrow would make a world of difference.

With Walmart now located on the other side of that light, turning can be almost impossible. I know the State Highway Department is familiar with left-turn arrows. We already have two at the US 281 and US 54 junction, and they work perfectly.

I know many of you are holding your breath waiting for a bypass, but until then, give us the arrow. Something so small could make a big difference in Pratt.