Iola should take advantage of KDOT roadwork

opinions

February 13, 2013 - 12:00 AM

Bargains are hard to come by these days.
But Iola has the unique opportunity to receive a complete new road at its eastern edge courtesy of the Kansas Department of Transportation.
The opportunity comes by piggy-backing on a 5.4- mile overhaul of U.S. 54 from Iola’s eastern edge on east to LaHarpe. Per request of Iola City Council, KDOT engineers agreed to add 800 feet of the badly deteriorated road to the project. The 800 feet signals the original city limits of Iola back when the highway was first constructed in 1968.
The highway has lived past its expected 30-year lifetime. Now engineers plan to take the road all the way down to its base, removing nine inches of concrete. It’s an estimated $10 million project, according to Jerod Kelley, a construction engineer with KDOT. If coupled with the bigger project, Iola’s portion should cost about $75,000 of the $300,000 price tag, under the agreement that communities bear 25 percent of construction costs.
That money is readily available, said Corey Schinstock, assistant city administrator. Iola receives about $26,000 every six months for road construction projects from the federal government, Schinstock said.

OPPONENTS to the road redo contend the work will negatively affect the activity of their businesses.
No doubt. Orange barrels are a turnoff.
But so is a crappy road.
And a superficial overlay won’t address the problem, which is what was tried in 2008, and has fallen far short of its 10-year expected durability.
In a conversation with KDOT engineers, the root of the problem is the five inches of roadway that is deteriorating below the “white-capped” surface of a mill overlay.
Entire 12- by 15-foot panels are coming loose and heaving up through the roadway. A “full-depth dig-out” is the only way to remedy the road once and for — the next 30 years.
KDOT doesn’t much care if Iola is included in the project. For them, it’s a fraction of the project.
Iola, on the other hand, will see a savings on engineering costs, inspection service fees and traffic control expenses — not to mention materials, which can be purchased at a much cheaper rate in bulk if coupled with the bigger project.

IN WEIGHING the pros and cons of the construction project, the betterment of the greater good should be the deciding factor.
— Susan Lynn

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