Allen County has spent months preparing for highway construction work south of Humboldt, which is now expected to begin in early August.
When it happens, it will cause heavy truck traffic to travel on county roads, particularly to reach industries like Monarch Cement.
Representatives of the Kansas Department of Transportation met with commissioners on Tuesday to talk about that project and others. KDOT engineers typically meet with commissioners at least once a year for a listening tour. Wayne Gudmonson and Troy Howard attended Tuesday’s meeting.
The project south of Humboldt is the latest part of a multi-phase effort to improve U.S. 169 from Iola to Thayer. A portion of the highway from Iola to Humboldt was finished a few years ago.
The coming project will improve a section from Delaware Road (aka Tank Farm Road) to Plummer Road, south of Chanute. Crews are currently working on a stretch between K-39 and Plummer Road.
The contract allows crews six months to complete the work from Humboldt to Chanute. If the project begins in August, that basically sets the deadline by the end of the year.
But the project offers an incentive. If crews finish 30 days early, they’ll get about $450,000. That could mean a completion around the end of November.
“Every time I’ve worked with these guys, if there’s an incentive involved, they’ve gotten it,” Gudmonson said.
County crews have installed lower speed limit signs on roads that are expected to be more heavily traveled during construction. The speed limit isn’t being enforced until construction begins; commission Chairman Jerry Daniels told Gudmonson the county is ready and eager for the project to be completed.
KDOT also plans to repair the highway around Thayer, where rain tends to pool and create a hazard. It’s especially dangerous during the winter, when water could freeze on the road surface.
Also, Allen, Anderson and Neosho counties are each expected to get a two-mile passing zone added to U.S. 169. The locations have not yet been announced. Gudmonson said he lobbied to add a half-mile to those passing lanes, but was not successful.
“Once we get all that done, 169 will be looking pretty good,” he said.
IN OTHER news, commissioners:
• Heard an update from Thrive Allen County about funding from the American Rescue Plan Act. The federal government allocated the second half of funding, which the county received last week. Thrive CEO Lisse Regehr said she was waiting for that money before she could provide more details.
• Approved an agreement to work with Garver, an aviation engineering firm, for projects at the Allen County Regional Airport. Garver will soon seek contractors for a paving improvement and marking project. Garver has helped the county find funding opportunities, often grants that pay 90% of the costs, commissioners noted.
• Learned Allen County’s dispatchers helped cover 911 calls for Woodson County for a brief time last week, after someone called in a bomb threat at the courthouse. That county’s dispatchers had to be relocated until the area was checked and cleared. No bomb was found.
• Heard an update from Mark Griffith, road and bridge director. The rock crusher has been fixed and is up and running. He also plans to meet with LaHarpe officials to talk about plans to delay road repairs in that city for a year.
