Even though traffic is now running head-to-head on the new U.S. 69 corridor in Bourbon County, the section will not be completed until next year.
“We’re giving the contractor a time extension on this project because of extensive deterioration on the existing lanes,” Priscilla Petersen, Public Affairs Manager for the Southeast Office of the Kansas Department of Transportation, said.
“The deteriorated sections are to the point where additional concrete patching is necessary,” she said. “The contractor plans to begin removing the old pavement this month, but weather conditions won’t allow for placement of new concrete until next March. This extra patching extends the completion of the project until late spring/early summer of 2019.”
“A reduced speed limit of 55 mph is posted on the new lanes, with four crossovers posted at 45 mph. After the entire project is open to four-lane traffic the speed limit will again be increased to 65 mph.”
The Crawford County section will be next in the expansion to a four-lane highway from a two-lane highway.
“There are two connecting expansion projects planned for U.S. 69 in Crawford County,” Petersen said. “The first is the Arma Connection U.S. 69 expressway. The Arma Connection is six miles long. It will start at the U.S. 69/K-47 junction north of Pittsburg and continue north, ending three miles north of the Arma city limits. Construction is tentatively scheduled to begin in early 2020.”
“The U.S. 69 Crawford County expansion is five miles long. It will begin three miles north of the Arma city limits and end at the Crawford-Bourbon county line. Construction is tentatively scheduled to start in early 2021.”
“I can’t give an exact date for completion of these projects since the plans are still being developed,” Petersen said. “Both projects would likely require two construction seasons. We’ll have more details moving forward.”
So how much tax payer money has been spent on this “road to nowhere”? Two more years before it connects to Arma? China can build a bullet train through a mountain range in a year, but it going to take nearly 4 years to ad 2 lanes only 20 miles? Even Hitler got roads built quicker than that…..We currently have a road that is more unsafe than before construction began. And without a hospital in town we NEED that road to save lives in ambulance service to a city that can take care of it’s residents…..Maybe we can convert one of those private jets sitting at the airport that we’re all paying to expand for “you know who” into a “life-flight” ambulance? Our commissioners are just spending our money to keep the wealthy families in town happy and the kick-backs coming……..
“China can build a bullet train through a mountain range in a year, but it going to take nearly 4 years to ad 2 lanes only 20 miles? Even Hitler got roads built quicker than that”
China does it the same as way Hitler did ………………….with forced labor…….with maybe a bowl of who knows what to eat (or possibly firing squad) at the end of the day.