Two projects on tap for U.S. 69

A future highway project will see improvements to the intersections of U.S. 69 at S. National Ave. (seen here) as well as at 23rd Street. (Scott Nuzum/Tribune) [Click to enlarge]

U.S. Hwy. 69 Association executive committee member Dean Mann attended Tuesday's Fort Scott City Commission meeting to discus two high priority projects, as defined in the U.S. Hwy. 69 Corridor Study, are nearly ready to begin. He said improvements to the intersection of U.S. Hwy. 69 and South National Avenue as well as the intersection of U.S. Hwy. 69 and 23rd Street are set to begin the design engineering process.

As spelled out in the corridor study, both intersections will be widened to accommodate a raised median, however the intersection of the highway and South National Avenue will also have turning lanes and traffic signals added. Mann said the improvements should help with the safety and traffic flow of the intersection.

The estimated cost of the two projects is $1.7 million -- however, the city will not have to contribute, according to Mann. He said that city officials from Fort Scott and Pittsburg, as well as representatives from the U.S. Hwy. 69 Association traveled to Washington, D.C. to lobby for federal funding for improvements to the highway.

"They were able secure an appropriation for us over two budget cycles," Mann said.

In addition, U.S. Senators Sam Brownback, R-Kan., and Pat Roberts, R-Kan., along with U.S. Representative Lynn Jenkins, R-Kan., were able to assist in the securing of $2.4 million for improvements to U.S. Hwy. 69 in Bourbon County.

"That is the money that is going to fund these two projects," Mann said.

Mann said that the process is a long and slow process, however he asked the Kansas Department of Transportation, who will be managing the projects, how long it would take to complete the improvements, they told him it would be a few years.

"[KDOT] told me that it would be two to three years before these projects would be completed," Mann said.

Despite having the corridor study as a conceptual design, Mann said nobody will know what the project will look like until the engineering design is completed. In addition to the engineering, he said other studies such as an environmental impact study will need to be completed as a requirement for the federal funding. According to KDOT, it would be a full year before construction begins.

"It always goes slower than we would like it to go, but that is the nature of the beast we are dealing with," Mann said. "We're moving ahead and we going to start making progress on it, and hopefully start seeing some of these project outlined in the corridor plan completed."