Top 10 accident locations on Kansas Turnpike

The spots where motorists are most likely to have accidents on the Kansas Turnpike tend to be on the heavily traveled section between Topeka and Kansas City, on or near I-70, according to a new report by the Kansas Turnpike Authority.

However, two spots — one at Emporia and one at Wichita — had a higher than average number of wrecks.

The turnpike study looked at the five-year period from 2010 through 2014.

Here are the top 10 high-accident locations on the turnpike, according to the Turnpike Authority’s 2015 Long-Term Needs Study.

1. The highest-accident location was at Mile Marker 224 on I-70 near Kansas City. That spot had 184 total accidents during the five-year period from 2010 through 2014. There were 25 injury accidents there.

2. MM 184 at Topeka had 121 total accidents, including one that was fatal and 13 that were injury accidents. This is one mile north of the I-70 exit.

3. MM 177 at Topeka. This is the exit to Topeka Boulevard leading to the state Capitol.

4, 6 and 10. Mile Markers 222, 217 and 212. Like No. 1, these three mile markers are on I-70, close to Bonner Springs.

5 and 9. If you have students in Lawrence, tell them to be careful. MM 202 (ranked fifth) and MM 203 (ranked ninth) are both near the Iowa Street exit, the main route to the University of Kansas dorms. This is one of the heaviest traveled spots on the turnpike, with an average of about 30,000 vehicles a day.

7. MM 42 near Wichita was No. 7 – with 86 total accidents, including three fatal accidents and 20 injury accidents. This is the south Wichita exit to I-235, 47th Street and the Canal Route. About 18,600 vehicles pass by this mile marker on an average day.

8. No. 8 was at MM 127 at Emporia. This is the Emporia exit to I-35 North. This area had four fatal accidents and 18 injury accidents.

This story was originally published January 21, 2016 at 2:39 PM with the headline "Top 10 accident locations on Kansas Turnpike."