Kansas is poised to complete its 10-year transportation program with nearly $60 million in the new state budget that will allow the highway department to jump-start 23 delayed road projects.
The money, coupled with a new task force created by the Legislature, sets the stage for the development of a new transportation plan to replace the one that’s quickly nearing its end.
“It’s extremely important that we do this,” said Republican state Rep. J.R. Claeys, who chairs the Transportation and Public Safety Budget Subcommittee.
“It’s important that as we discuss the next transportation program that we fulfill the promise of the previous program,” Claeys said.
The Legislature financed the projects by halting the transfer of money to schools from the highway department, a practice in place for the last several years. The state is replacing the money that went to schools with state general fund dollars.
Two years ago, the Kansas highway department delayed 23 road projects totaling more than $500 million as the state sought to fill a budget hole in the aftermath of sweeping income tax cuts. A complete list of the delayed projects is here. But some of the bigger projects that were delayed included:
- $47 million for a seven-mile section of Kansas 14 from southeast of Nickerson northwest to the Reno/Rice county line.
- $45.9 million for an eight-mile stretch of Kansas 14 from the Reno/Rice County line northwest to north of Sterling.
- $45.8 million for a six-mile stretch of U.S. 166 in Cherokee County from east of Baxter Springs to the Kansas-Missouri state line
- $39.9 million for a 15-mile stretch of U.S. 281 in Russell County from Russell to K-18.
- $37 million for a nine-mile segment of U.S. 50 in Ford County from the Gray/Ford county line to Dodge City.
The new money will help start some of those projects, which are about all that’s left in the state’s $8 billion transportation plan that the Legislature approved in 2010.
“It puts us back on track to being able to plan our 23 delayed projects,” said Kansas Transportation Secretary Richard Carlson. “This is moving in the right direction.”
It was unclear just how many projects would get done with the new money. State transportation officials said increased funding would first go toward road preservation, then toward projects that are closest to being shovel-ready.
Lawmakers took steps this year to start work on a new multi-year transportation plan with a task force that they created.
The task force would be comprised of a mix of state legislators, representatives of cities and counties as well as officials from the transportation industry, including contractors, engineers, public transportation, railroads and aerospace among others.
The task force will evaluate the progress of the current 10-year transportation program and study the condition of the state’s transportation system, including roads and bridges.
The committee also will examine whether transportation funding is sufficient in Kansas and if it can meet state’s future needs. It also will be charged with identifying new transportation projects, especially any that would benefit the state’s economy.
The task force must appointed within 45 days of the effective date of the bill. It must make a report to the Legislature by January 2019.
