Kansas Department of Transportation and Bourbon County Public Works have both been working on roadways south of Fort Scott.
People who use Calvary Road will soon have access again, according to Priscilla Peterson, Public Affairs Manager with the Kansas Department of Transportation District 4.
Cherry Grove Baptist Church sits at the intersection of Calvary Rd. and U.S. 69 Hwy. where the access is closed currently.
“Right now they are doing a re-route behind the church,” Peterson said. “If the weather is good, the Calvary Road access should be opened by the end of the month.”
KDOT personnel makes an effort to contact people before limiting access to a road, Peterson said.
The Calvary Road closure is part of the improvements being made to U.S. 69 Hwy.
The six-mile highway expansion to a four-lane upgradeable expressway, with access points, was started in March 2017 and is scheduled for completion November 2018, according to Peterson.
Two-way U.S. 69 Hwy. traffic is being maintained while building the new lanes, she said.
County Roads Converted From Asphalt To Gravel
Two county roads south-east of Fort Scott have been ripped up this year to eventually be improved, according to a county official.
Eagle Road between 69 Hwy. and 250th Street and 230th Street between Kansas and Jayhawk Roads were converted from asphalt back to gravel.
“This is part of a process,” Jim Harris, Bourbon County Public Works director, said. “We did several miles last year.”
“We turn it back into gravel, then our goal is to overlay on top in the spring,” Harris said. “We do a manual contraction, but leaving it over the winter helps with compaction.”
Exactly what improvements these roads receive is up to the Bourbon County Commissioners.
In March the Bourbon County Commission holds a public meeting annually to discuss the priorities for road repair and maintenance.
“We’ll have a work session on roads, ” Harris said. “I make recommendations about repair or maintain, the commission decides.It’s a public meeting. In March the road priorities are determined by the commission. They decide what roads we are going to reclaim.”
The gravel road has left at least one Garland area resident re-routing his travel.
“It’s so bad I don’t go down that way,” Raymond Kalm said. “It’s too rough and too dusty.”