Construction of the Northwest Passage, an improvement of K-96/K-14 from Nickerson to Sterling, is back on the Kansas Department of Transportation’s scheduled project plan.

Construction of both legs, the 7 miles of a “Super 2” built on four-lane right-of-way from Nickerson to the Rice County line and then another 8 miles northwest to Sterling, are slated to begin in 2021 – pending funding.

The projects were among a half-dozen in South Central and Southwest Kansas on the agency’s original T-Works development list that the agency now says it plans to start by 2023.

More than 50 other expansion or modernization projects have also been identified as future 10-year candidates in KDOT’s 18-county District 5, which has Reno County in its center.

That includes four-laning another 30 miles of the Northwest Passage, from Sterling to Great Bend, and four-laning 123 miles of U.S. 50 between Newton and the Edwards County line, with 33 miles of that in Reno County.

The lists were distributed during a KDOT “local consult” meeting in Hutchinson Tuesday morning led by Secretary of Transportation Julie Lorenz.

It was the second of eight such meetings scheduled around the state over 10 days. The first was in Salina on Monday.

During Tuesday morning’s meeting at the Atrium, KDOT officials opened the floor to speakers to outline what they saw as priority projects in the region that had not yet been identified.

Most of the 10 speakers, however, concentrated their comments on projects already on the radar to emphasize their importance to the region, including the Northwest Passage.

The 80-plus participants were then split into small groups to envision what a 25-year transportation plan should look like, considering the challenges of ongoing rapid changes in technology, demographics, and climate.

Planning for change

The idea, Lorenz said, is to start developing a plan now that addresses the long-range needs of the future, and then tackle it in 10-year increments.

“We’re looking for themes across the state to build from,” Lorenz said. “We want specific themes relative to each region. It’s important with an investment this significant that it will stand the test of time. That’s why we want to work with everyone to understand the needs and prioritize projects.”

From this week’s meetings, officials will try to refine a plan to bring back in the fall, from which it will develop funding requests to take to the legislature.

In her presentation, Lorenz asked participants to consider how rapidly technology is changing, not just in transportation, but in medical, education and delivery services, and how that will impact infrastructure needs in both rural populations and urban centers.

"T-Works is sunsetting,” she said, referring to the prior 10-year transportation plan that was never completed. “That work is coming to a close… We are committed to complete K-96 in 2021. We’re taking a leap of faith with the governor that money will stay in the highway fund and setting letting dates.”

“The good news is that we have $435 million in projects on the docket. But that doesn’t mean we don’t look forward to the next 10 years and beyond… We need to make sure we’re investing well for the future.”

Among challenges, Lorenz noted, are that infrastructure costs are rising, while population growth in the state has slowed, and the population is aging. Other issues are the continuing decline in rural communities, congestion in urban areas, and growth in the number of extreme weather events.

By 2044, almost half of Kansans are expected to live in Sedgwick and Johnson counties. But those remaining in rural areas will still need access to medical care and education with fewer local providers

Challenges today

Among their own challenges at KDOT, Lorenz said outside the meeting, is catching up on highway maintenance after lawmakers swept $2 billion in KDOT funds over the past eight years for the general fund.

There are some 10,000 miles of state highway in Kansas. Without investment in their preservation, other than “light actions,” the roads began showing a resulting decline by 2015, she said.

“I’m optimistic and hopeful (the legislature) will continue to keep money in the highway fund and that the ‘bank of KDOT’ is closed by 2023,” Lorenz said. Coupled with proposed bonding, “by 2022, we should be largely back on track.”

“We saw good progress this session with $216 million remaining in the highway fund,” Lorenz said. “We added $50 million to preservation and got to $400 million. We estimate we ought to be spending $500 million a year. That’s what we’re working toward. We’re grateful that the governor and legislature are doing that. We’re making progress in getting back on track.”

Another key area they are working on is opening KDOT right-of-way to allow quicker development of broadband networks around the state.

The federal government today is more lenient in terms of regulation than the state in allowing the use of the right-of-way, Lorenz said.

“We’re going to take a look at our policy to see how it can be more accommodating,” she said.