Joint Legislative Transportation Vision Task Force – Hays meeting

Alternative Delivery and County Roads – During the Task Force meeting in Hays last Wednesday, the Task Force heard presentations on two separate topics.  

David Simmons, Design-Build Coordinator for the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT), provided an overview design-build delivery approaches MoDOT has used on select projects over the past several years. Norm Bowers, a Local Road Engineer at the Kansas Association of Counties, provided a perspective on the county road and bridge system, including the size of the system, the importance of county roads and bridges in connecting Kansans, and funding needs as the system ages. Presentations from the meeting can be found here.

Local Testimony Highlights Importance of Economic Development and Safety – During the public testimony, we heard from stakeholders on the importance of KDOT partnering with local communities to help drive local economic development. Some stakeholders encouraged the Task Force to restore and protect transportation funding as they look toward the next transportation program. Similar to other meetings, stakeholders also shared the importance of safety and modernization improvements on existing roadways such as K-383 and US-281.

The next task force meeting will be at the Kansas State University Innovation Campus in Olathe on Nov. 8. At this meeting, we will focus on project selection criteria and the economic impact of transportation. More information about future meeting locations and directions on how to provide testimony can be found here.

Urban Mobility Discussion in Olathe. Before the task force meeting in Olathe, we will hold a stakeholder meeting to discuss urban mobility from 8:00 – 9:30 a.m.