Kansas Turnpike

One person is dead after a crash involving several cars on the Kansas Turnpike Wednesday morning.  It happened at around 12:30 am on I-35 near Pawnee.  The Kansas Highway Patrol says a school bus was towing another school bus when the attachment came undone, leaving both of the buses disabled in the southbound lane of the Turnpike. KHP says two passenger cars and a semi crashed while trying to avoid those buses. The driver of one of those cars, identified as 60-year-old Donald Putman of Wichita, was killed.

Two people are in critical condition after an accident on the Kansas Turnpike. Five others are in serious condition. It happened in the southbound lanes of I-35, just North of the Towanda service station. Two medical helipcoters were called to transport some of the injured. Eyewitness news has a crew headed to the scene. Look for updates online and on air.

The Kansas Highway Patrol is looking into a crash on the Kansas Turnpike late Thursday.  It happened in the northbound lanes near E. Kellogg. Troopers tell us two vehicles side-swiped each other, then ended up in the ditch by Webb Road. Two people were hurt, one went to the hospital with potentially critical injuries.  The other suffered minor injuries.

Gas prices in Wichita have dropped nearly $0.50 in the past month. The price unleaded now averages $3.34 a gallon in Wichita . Gas peaked at $3.79 a gallon in late September. A gallon of unleaded is now at its lowest level since early July. Price of gas on the Kansas Turnpike is even cheaper. It is $3.17 a gallon at the Belle Plaine rest stop. The price of gas typically drops in the fall as the summer driving season ends and companies start using cheaper seasonal blends.

You can see the signs, just don't follow them yet. Thursday, crews from the Kansas Department of Transportation started replacing 70 mph signs with new 75 mph signs on some Kansas highways. It's part of a new law raising the speed limit on certain highways. The issue is that the law does not go into effect until July 1st, which is Friday. That means, even though the signs say 75, drivers are expected to follow the old limits until Friday. The new speed limit affects much of I-135 north of Wichita, most of I-70 and the Kansas Turnpike.

Taking the Kansas Turnpike will cost you a little more. Tolls are going up starting in today. “Like any business we adjust our prices from time to time,” said KTA president Michael Johnston. This time it's 10% on average for cars and light trucks and 5% for large commercial vehicles and K-Tag users. From the South Wichita 47th St. toll both to Emporia, it's four dollars for cars and light trucks. A 10% increase equals an extra 40 cents a trip. If you have a K-Tag it's a 5% increase or twenty cents a trip.

An accident involving three motorcycles on the Kansas Turnpike has claimed the life of a man from Lawrence. Troopers were called to the scene just outside of Topeka at milepost 178 around 5:45 p.m. Saturday. Investigators said a 59-year-old man was riding his motorcycle, when he lost control and crashed. The second bike braked to avoid the accident and also crashed. A third motorcycle also went into the ditch while trying to avoid the scene. The man on the first bike died at the scene.

Changes are coming to the Kansas Turnpike exit 19 toll plaza; that's the exit for Wellington. The exit is getting new self-pay toll machines. Instead of handing money to a person, people can use cash or a credit card. The machines work much like grocery store self check-outs. The machines are used most of the time at lower-traffic exits. The turnpike also has some that they use during low-traffic hours, but use people to take tolls during high-traffic times. The first self-pay machines were installed in December 2009 at an exit in northeast Kansas.

Four people are hospitalized, two of them in critical condition, after a semi fire along the Kansas Turnpike just north of the K-96 exit in East Wichita early Tuesday. Troopers say an SUV was pulling another SUV on a trailer when a tire blew, a semi following behind them didn't realize what was happening and crashed into the vehicles.  The semi's fuel tank burstopen, spilling gas everywhere and catching fire. All four victims were in the SUV at the time of the crash.  The semi driver was not hurt.