KDOT secretary urges Kansans to think of transportation in terms of 2045

Kansas’ secretary of transportation convened Monday a meeting in Topeka to draw input from local officials on immediate highway, airport and rail system needs while driving the conversation toward what that complex network might look like in a quarter of a century.

“We are in a time of great transformation in transportation,” aid Julie Lorenz, secretary of the Kansas Department of Transportation. “There are a bunch of trends that are beginning to combine and collide.”

She said the challenge was to design a Kansas system for 2045 that accommodated a projected 11.6% growth in population, but dealt with the potential of having half of all residents living in Sedgwick and Johnson counties. Demand for a modern communications highway — broadband running under KDOT right-of-way — will intensify in rural areas, she said.