U.S. 69 south expansion on KDOT agenda

A project to add an additional two lanes of highway to U.S. Highway 69 between Fort Scott and Arma is on the Kansas Department of Transportation's list to begin within the next three years.

KDOT Secretary Deb Miller announced Thursday a list of highway projects limited by budget cuts and funding uncertainties, as well as five additional projects that will be put into the initial stages of development starting next year.

The list includes $336 million in projects for fiscal year 2010, which began July 1; $312 million in 2011; and $270 million in 2012. Those numbers fall far short of the $650 million-per-year average spending during the Comprehensive Transportation Plan and well below the $415 million annual investment the governor's transportation task force -- T-LINK -- determined was necessary just to preserve the state's highway system.

Projects include the $68 million four-lane expansion of U.S. 69 from Fort Scott to Arma; an interchange linking Kansas Highway 10 and 15th Street at Lawrence; a U.S. Highway 54 freeway at Greensburg; passing lanes on U.S. Highway 50 from Emporia to Hutchinson; and reconstruction of Kansas Highway 7 north of Columbus.

"The truth is, that level of funding simply doesn't meet the needs of our system and, if fiscal conditions continue to worsen, our short list of projects could get even shorter," Miller said.

The 2010-12 funding will allow the agency to complete about 40 preservation projects, such as bridge replacement or pavement reconstruction and rehabilitation, as well as maintenance work such as resurfacing and bridge repair. The maintenance projects are selected on an annual basis.

In 2010, more than half of the funding will be spent on about 300 maintenance projects. The list of those projects is still being finalized. And, some of the 2010 funding will be spent on the final phases of a couple of projects started under the 10-year CTP, which officially expired June 30. Those projects include the expansion of U.S. Highway 59 in Douglas County and the expansion of U.S. 54 in Kingman County.

Since May, KDOT's budget has been trimmed by $55 million. Add to that the revenue adjustments to the State Highway Fund during the legislative session and the total hit to KDOT's 2010 budget is $161 million.

Making the budget picture even cloudier is the impending cash shortfall in the federal Highway Trust Fund, from which KDOT receives a large part of its revenue. If Congress doesn't act to fix the fund, KDOT will receive $285 million less than the $357 million it received in fiscal year 2009, forcing deep cuts in the work planned.

"Because the nation's financial crisis won't last forever, and because it can take years to get a project to the actual construction stage, we plan to begin the initial planning phase for five projects," Miller said. "These projects will go into the development pipeline with other projects for which planning is already underway. But, I want to be clear that there are no construction funds for these projects at this time."

In February, the U.S. 69 project was not chosen by KDOT officials as one of several statewide transportation projects to receive funds under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 primarily because there was not enough stimulus funding available for the project, and because it did not rank high enough on KDOT's list of identified projects. At the time, KDOT officials said the U.S. 69 project could get started within a year depending on available funding. In January, the project was put on hold due to funding uncertainties prior to the passage of the federal stimulus package.

For more information, visit www.ksdot.org/projects.asp.