KDOT participates in Transportation Task Force initial session

KDOT Secretary of Transportation Richard Carlson provides an update to the Transportation Task Force.

The Transportation Task Force met in Topeka yesterday to set goals, identify constraints and develop a process to gather local input as part of transitioning to a new transportation plan.

The task force is comprised of 31 voting members, including legislators, industry representatives and local officials. KDOT is one of four ex-officio (non-voting) members of the task force. The Kansas Turnpike Authority, The Kansas Department of Revenue and the Kansas Department of Agriculture are the others.

KDOT’s role Monday was to assist the committee as they met to understand the process of developing a long-term transportation program. 

“Our goals are to preserve the current system, complete T-Works and create a reliable and sustainable source of future funding,” said Transportation Secretary Richard Carlson.  “We are here to provide you the data you need and answer your questions.”

As the task force evaluated the progress of T-Works, they also looked at what in the T-Works process worked and what they believe may need to be different as the task force creates recommendations for the next generation of transportation planning.

The Transportation Task Force Co-Chairs Rep. Richard Proehl and Sen. Carolyn McGinn attend the initial Transportation Task Force session.  

Task force co-chairman Rep. Richard Proehl said the purpose of the task force is to connect a statewide vision for the future with regional visions and ensure transportation projects support overall goals.

“Transportation projects need to stand the test of time,” Proehl said.

Proehl said the task force will need to balance engineering data, economic development, emerging needs and funding sources.

“We need to ask ourselves if we have the right program structure for moving forward to meet the state’s transportation needs,” Proehl said.

During the KDOT update, Carlson reported the T-Works program to date did have several successes, including 12,871 lane miles of lane miles improved and 846 bridges improved.

Carlson said each year of T-Works, KDOT provided local agencies a total of $10 million in economic development funds, and it was his recommendation the future program double that investment amount.

“When we look at the strategic impact of those dollars, it’s significant,” Carlson said.

The Transportation Task Force initial meeting was widely attended. The task force will hold nine regional meetings across the state this fall.  

KDOT provided the task force a budget update and identified the fiscal realities of completing the remaining 21 projects on the T-Works list and catching up on preservation and addressing emerging local needs following three years of highway fund transfers.

“To complete the remaining projects on the T-works list,” said State Transportation Engineer Catherine Patrick, “we need about $500 million over five years.”

Patrick said the five-year process is due to projects being paused in various phases of the design process.  Many projects were paused before right-of-way purchases had been completed, and others still need design work before moving forward.

Patrick also said in order to catch up on preservation, KDOT needs $500 to $600 million per year to complete the preservation necessary to position KDOT to maintain the highway infrastructure to a level of service the driving public needs.

The task force is set to hold a total of nine regional meetings across the state from September through November.  After the regional meetings are held, the task force will reconvene to begin the process of creating recommendations to meet transportation needs in Kansas over the next 10 years or longer.

“It won’t be easy.” Proehl said, “But it will be worth it.”