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Town Works Together To Slow Down Traffic

1,756 views · Published 31 July 2008 · 2:27 · Indexed 1 October 2026

Channel: KMBC 9 · 2008 · News & Politics

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A new traffic sign was posted along a busy highway after a 15-year-old boy on a bicycle was nearly killed there last year.

The westbound lanes of U.S. Highway 50 run beside the small town of Lone Jack. Traffic often speeds by at 65 mph.

Residents hope that a new sign telling people how fast they're going will slow people down.

That sign might not have gone up had it not been for Brennan Maxwell, who was riding his bike last August when he was hit by a pickup truck. He had been trying to cross the highway at the intersection of Bynum Road.

"I'm doing pretty good. A little scrambled, but that's to be expected," Maxwell told KMBC's Martin Augustine.

The teen was unconscious for nine days after the collision. He's still recovering from his injuries.

"It's disorienting. Because you don't really know what you did. You can't really remember anything," Maxwell said. "I don't really like thinking about it."

Residents said they're afraid that someone else could be hit. Another concern is that school buses pass through the intersection more than 20 times a day, so other children could be in danger.

"It is, without a doubt, the biggest worry that I have, is this intersection," Lone Jack Superintendent Dr. Ron Davies said.

Davies saw Maxwell get hit.

"I thought it would probably be over for him," Davies said.

The incident sparked the community into rallying and protest for something to be done to make the intersection safer.

Since Maxwell was hit, flashing lights have been added to draw attention to stop signs on the highway and the turn lanes have been widened.

What residents said they really want is for the westbound lanes of Highway 50 to run underneath an overpass, instead of through town.

"We owe it to the children to slow this traffic down, or put them under the westbound bridge down there. We owe it to the children because we're going to hurt some more and that's what's going to happen," Davies said.

Davies said a group of concerned citizens and city leaders meet in his office on Monday mornings. He said the group's mission is to convince the Missouri Department of Transportation to put the westbound traffic under that overpass.

Meanwhile, Maxwell said he still enjoys school, but it's harder for him now due to brain injuries he suffered in the crash.

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