169 south to reopen, then close

US 169 from Chanute to Earlton will open today. But next week, a three-mile stretch between K-9 and Plummer Avenue north of Chanute will close. And a section in Allen County south of Humboldt will close this summer.

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December 8, 2021 - 10:03 AM

A construction worker paints stripes along U.S. 169 south of Iola in December 2018. Register file photo

CHANUTE — Crews are reopening a five-mile stretch of U.S. 169 today, from Chanute to near Earlton, the Kansas Department of Transportation announced Tuesday.

The highway reopening marks the end of the first phase of the 13-mile highway pavement reconstruction project in Neosho and Allen counties.

But motorists won’t get a clear shot from Allen County to points south for long.

That’s because contractors plan to close next Tuesday a three-mile stretch of 169 between K-39 and Plummer Avenue north of Chanute, to begin work on that reconstruction.

Then, after the second stretch is complete sometime next summer, a third stretch of U.S. 169 will close for reconstruction from Plummer north to the Humboldt-Chanute turnoff north of the county line.

The state’s official detour will send motorists across from 169 to U.S. 75, via either U.S. 54 at Iola or K-39 at Chanute.

Commissioners are considering options that would allow for some truck traffic on county roads, particularly to allow access to Monarch Cement and B&W Trailer Hitches in Humboldt.

Plans are to have 169 fully open to traffic by next November.

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