|
|
|
GIRARD —
GIRARD — Crawford County Commissioners got some welcome news Tuesday from the Kansas Department of Transportation.
Commissioners had asked KDOT if any funds would be available to help pay for damage to county roads and other expenses caused by the closure of Kansas Highway 47 for bridge construction.
“Help with unofficial detours is quite doable,” said George Dockery, KDOT area engineer, who attended the commission meeting with two colleagues. “You have justification.”
He noted that traffic counts on side roads have increased tremendously over what they had been before K47 was closed, and said that KDOT needs figures on county expenses resulting from this.
“We’ve spent $4,600 so far for dust control, and we’re not finished yet,” said commissioner Linda Grilz.
Dockery said that he thought the department could participate in dust control, and if patching becomes necessary on some paved roads, KDOT could probably help with that as well.
“We’ll work up a state-county agreement that we’ll participate up to a certain amount,” he said.
“How do you want us to help make it easier for you to settle this up when it’s all done?” Wood asked.
Dockery replied that KDOT wants accurate records of expenses incurred by the county, and said that it would be easier to work with one person. Commissioners suggested that this information could be handled by Marla Beckcom of the Crawford County Road and Bridge Department.
There were also questions about the official detour involving Kansas Highway 126, which is now also down to one lane for a stretch about 1 1/2 miles west of Pittsburg because of bridge repairs in that area.
Commissioner Carl Wood asked if there had been any discussion of preventing problems by instead constructing a round-about or a shoofly, a short temporary road that goes around a construction site.
“The right of way was so narrow that to put in a shoofly would have cost tremendously,” Dockery replied. “We would have had to buy more right of way, or at least get easements, so we felt the detour was most practical.”
He told commissioners that work was going well on the project and bridges will soon be poured.
“We think the bridges will be ahead of schedule, but we don’t know about the sub-contractor’s schedule for the surfacing because they’re also working other jobs,” Dockery said. “We had wanted it to be open by the fair, but I don’t think now that’s going to happen.”
GIRARD — Crawford County Commissioners got some welcome news Tuesday from the Kansas Department of Transportation.
Commissioners had asked KDOT if any funds would be available to help pay for damage to county roads and other expenses caused by the closure of Kansas Highway 47 for bridge construction.
“Help with unofficial detours is quite doable,” said George Dockery, KDOT area engineer, who attended the commission meeting with two colleagues. “You have justification.”
He noted that traffic counts on side roads have increased tremendously over what they had been before K47 was closed, and said that KDOT needs figures on county expenses resulting from this.
“We’ve spent $4,600 so far for dust control, and we’re not finished yet,” said commissioner Linda Grilz.
Dockery said that he thought the department could participate in dust control, and if patching becomes necessary on some paved roads, KDOT could probably help with that as well.
“We’ll work up a state-county agreement that we’ll participate up to a certain amount,” he said.
“How do you want us to help make it easier for you to settle this up when it’s all done?” Wood asked.
Dockery replied that KDOT wants accurate records of expenses incurred by the county, and said that it would be easier to work with one person. Commissioners suggested that this information could be handled by Marla Beckcom of the Crawford County Road and Bridge Department.
There were also questions about the official detour involving Kansas Highway 126, which is now also down to one lane for a stretch about 1 1/2 miles west of Pittsburg because of bridge repairs in that area.
Commissioner Carl Wood asked if there had been any discussion of preventing problems by instead constructing a round-about or a shoofly, a short temporary road that goes around a construction site.
“The right of way was so narrow that to put in a shoofly would have cost tremendously,” Dockery replied. “We would have had to buy more right of way, or at least get easements, so we felt the detour was most practical.”
He told commissioners that work was going well on the project and bridges will soon be poured.
“We think the bridges will be ahead of schedule, but we don’t know about the sub-contractor’s schedule for the surfacing because they’re also working other jobs,” Dockery said. “We had wanted it to be open by the fair, but I don’t think now that’s going to happen.”
Commissioners also discussed other roads in the county.
“We’re at over 22 roads in desperate need of work,” said commissioner Bob Kmiec. “We can thank the good Lord that we had a mild winter, but if we have a rough winter this year, we’ll lose some roads.”
He estimated that work on the roads might cost around $375,000.
“We’ve got roughly $400,000 to $430,000 between the two budgets to do this,” Kmiec said.
Grilz suggested the commissioners consider doing chip and seal rather than asphalting the roads.
“Chip and seal is a process all our crews can do, and the roads hold up better,” she said. “I’d rather see us do it right the first time.”
Commissioners will discuss roads further, but Kmiec said a decision needs to be made soon.
“It’s already June, and if we put this off, it’ll be winter again,” he said.
