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CONTACTS:
Ron Achelpohl, Assistant Director of Transportation, rona@marc.org,
816/474-4240
Jody Ladd Craig, Public Affairs Director, jcraig@marc.org,
816/701-8241
Transportation committee recommends $24 million in federal stimulus funds to Kansas jurisdictions
The Kansas Surface Transportation Program/Bridge Priorities Committee (KS STP/BR) met on Feb. 25 to determine which of the 119 transportation infrastructure projects submitted to receive funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act would be selected. Fifteen projects from 13 Kansas jurisdictions were recommended to receive full or partial funding totaling approximately $24 million. (See list)
Funding through the federal Surface Transportation program is allocated to the Mid-America Regional Council (MARC) — the bistate region's Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) — in order to fund a variety of transportation projects that maintain infrastructure, increase modes of travel and manage roadway capacity. Guidelines from the U.S. Department of Transportation limit the funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to communities that fall within the transportation boundaries of the local MPO.
The KS STP/BR Committee employed its long-standing allocation process which is used for its regular funding decisions. The committee evaluated projects based on factors such as travel volumes, system condition, safety, economic impact, environmental features, impacts to other modes of transportation, relationship to regional and local plans and how quickly the project could be undertaken (“shovel-readiness”). As required by the ARRA, priority was given to projects in economically distressed areas.
Eligible projects are those within the MPO boundary and, in general, are on streets and highways designated within the federal Functional Classification System as collector or arterial roadways or interstates. Certain transit, trail and other project types are also eligible. The MPO boundary includes all of Johnson, Leavenworth, and Wyandotte counties but Miami County, which joined the MARC region in 2007, is not within the boundary.
Among the priorities the KS STP/BR Committee focused on were: system improvement and preservation, and upgrades to the region’s traffic signal coordination plan, which will result in better traffic flow and reduced pollution.
Once the projects are approved by the MARC Board of Directors, they will be added to the region’s Transportation Improvement Program (TIP), which documents transportation resources that will receive federal, state and local funding and be carried out in the next three to five years. Project sponsors will then coordinate with the Kansas and Missouri Departments of Transportation to complete project agreements, finalize plans and bid projects for construction or implementation.
The following list includes the projects which were approved to receive funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act by the Kansas STP/BR Committee.
Project |
Amount |
Full/Partial Funding |
State Avenue Improvements, Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Kan. |
$5,000,000 |
Full |
127th Street, Mur-Len to Black Bob, Olathe |
$3,500,000 |
Partial |
Operation Green Light System Enhancement, 20 jurisdictions in bistate region |
$1,000,000 |
Partial |
87th Street from Renner to Lennox, Lenexa |
$3,000,000 |
Partial |
College Boulevard, Pflumm Road to U.S. 69, Overland Park |
$3,800,000 |
Partial |
Street Resurfacing – Quivira Road: 64th Street to South City Limit, Shawnee |
$720,000 |
Full |
2009 Mill and Overlay Project, Merriam |
$900,000 |
Full |
Street Resurfacing – Nieman: 59th Street to Shawnee Mission Parkway, Shawnee |
$245,250 |
Full |
Hwy. 169 (Rainbow Blvd.) Improvement Project, Westwood |
$1,597,152 |
Full |
Street Resurfacing – 83rd Street: Hedge Lane Ter. to Monticello Terrace, Shawnee |
$230,000 |
Full |
138th Street North Rebuild, Bonner Springs |
$440,000 |
Full |
Roe Avenue Improvements – Shawnee Mission Parkway to 63rd Street, Mission |
$1,074,000 |
Full |
U.S.56 & Old Highway 56 Intersection Improvements, Gardner |
$601,000 |
Full |
I-435 & Woodend Rd. Interchange, Edwardsville |
$775,000 |
Full |
Rehabilitation of 103rd Street, Leawood |
$1,315,833 |
Full |
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