A full house on Thursday greeted lawmakers and others serving on a taskforce gathering input for Kansas’ future transportation needs.
The Joint Legislative Transportation Vision Task Force is traveling the state to hear what roads need work and prioritize these projects in a future transportation plan. Two main coalitions presenting recommendations to the taskforce on Thursday supported expansion of US-169 and US-69. Other highways were discussed as well, including US-400 and US-160 in Labette County.
The US-169 coalition wants to see that highway expanded to four lanes from Kansas City to the Oklahoma border and see safety improvements on the dangerous stretch from Welda to Garnett. That 9.4-mile stretch has no shoulders, has ponds on either side of the road, and is in bad condition.
Rep. Jim Kelly, an Independence Republican, Trisha Purdon, Montgomery County Action Council executive director, Walter Wulf Jr., Monarch Cement Co. CEO and chairman of the board, Chuck Shively, Coffeyville public works director, and Christopher Weiner, Garnett city manager, discussed US-169. Others submitted written testimony. Purdon gave a detailed presentation about the need for the US-169 work. The road connects the eastern part of Kansas and Southeast Kansas to the global marketplace, she said. The Port of Catoosa at Tulsa also supports the highway expansion in Kansas, and Oklahoma is working on expanding US-169 from Tulsa to Kansas.
Purdon said there are 150,000 jobs along the US-169 corridor and 27,000 of those are manufacturing jobs.
“We know that’s one of the large segments of the Kansas economy,” she said.
(Read more: The Chanute Tribune)