Will new roadway save lives?

By VICKIE MOSS, Herald Managing Editor

Marcia Servatius wanted to blame the highway.

After all, in 1995, her father had warned about a stretch of road about three miles north of Ottawa. Thousands of vehicles traveling U.S. 59 between Lawrence and Ottawa had worn ruts into the pavement.

During a spring rain storm that year, water collected in those ruts. A vehicle driven by Servatius’ father, Robert Moore, hydroplaned, striking another vehicle and killing Servatius’ parents.

But now, more than 13 years later and as a new, four-lane highway is constructed to replace the highway where her parents died, Servatius doesn’t blame the highway. Instead, she wonders about the project.

Is this four-lane freeway, expected to cost more than $214 million, necessary? Were there better options? Will it save lives?

The accident

Robert and Janelle Moore were driving back to Ottawa April 29, 1995, after buying flowers at a local nursery, their daughter recalled. Robert Moore said he was buying flowers for his daughter, a woman at the nursery later told Servatius.

It also was the day of Ottawa High School’s prom, and Servatius and her teenage daughter were at the high school waiting to meet Janelle Moore to look at the prom decorations. Servatius wondered why her mother was late, and why she hadn’t called.

The Moores never showed up. Instead, a sheriff’s deputy arrived at the high school to deliver news of the fatality accident.

Servatius said her father had warned his family about dangerous places on U.S. 59, especially about three miles north of Ottawa just south of the Franklin-Douglas county line. Robert Moore was a former Ottawa public works director and knew the ruts in the road could be deadly in a rain storm, Servatius recalled.

Yet, even though he knew about the dangers, Moore lost control in the rain. His vehicle struck another car head on, killing the Moores and injuring the other driver.

“The road and the rain — it all worked against us,” Servatius said. “I was angry about the highway at the time, but then I realized it wasn’t just the highway. Maybe it was just their time.”

After the accident

Some people encouraged Servatius and her family to sue the state because of the hazardous road conditions, she said, but she declined.

“I couldn’t keep dredging it up,” she said. “By then the state had come and fixed the highway. I don’t know what else they could have done.”

Later, when she learned of plans to rebuild U.S. 59 and make it safer, she felt encouraged, she said.

“At first, I thought, ‘Oh good, they’re going to do something about it,’” Servatius said. “It’s created such turmoil for a lot of people.”

As the years passed, however, Servatius began to question to wisdom of the project. She watched the process from a distance, following news accounts as the state settled on a path and began to put the plan into action.

She wondered if the state truly had selected the best path. She favored the so-called “Super 2” approach, which would have improved the existing two-lane highway with wider lanes and shoulders.

That option was one of about 17 alternative plans considered by the state but ultimately rejected. State officials said the current plan offered the least impact on landowners and provided the greatest degree of safety.

Servatius also wondered about the impact on landowners who were bought out through the use of eminent domain. And as a downtown business owner, Servatius is worried the new U.S. 59 will divert too much traffic from Ottawa.

“I’m really concerned about our town,” she said. “I know my dad would have been concerned about what it’s going to do to Ottawa businesses.”