Let’s make the future
work for all of us.
In an uncertain future, the path forward will require us to
think regionally, invest multimodally and preserve our infrastructure.
Those were the key themes that emerged from the South
Central region’s Local Consult Round 1:
Visioning Transportation Futures meeting on Tuesday. About 85 Kansans participated in a scenario
planning exercise, and provided input on how transportation investments could
best serve their communities in the future.
Participants demonstrated the value of regionalism often
by voicing support for projects in communities outside of their own. And they spoke about the need for future
transportation investments to be fair to both urban and rural areas. They also
referenced the T-WORKS projects that were delayed due to revenue losses and
their desire to see these projects completed as promised.
“You can’t bring new businesses to the State, if
you don’t have a transportation system in good shape."
– Suzanne Loomis, City Engineer & Director of Public
Works for the City of Newton
There was strong recognition that because transportation
funding will always be limited, state and local leaders must work together to
prioritize needs. For example, Winfield
City Manager Taggart Wall spoke about the need for the West Winfield
Bypass. He indicated originally the
project was estimated to cost about $79 million according to KDOT. However, upon further discussion and
evaluation, the community has proposed a
smaller improvement, which could still meet their most pressing needs. The new, proposed project is slated to cost
less than half the original estimate, about $30 million, and will still support
the growth in the city.
“Our funding sources rely on traditional models,
which are rapidly changing.”
– Joseph Turner, City Administrator for the City of
Sedgwick
As they worked through three distinct scenarios about
possible futures for Kansas, participants noted that expanding broadband access
would be critical in any scenario. And
while there may be uncertainty around how technology will impact our lives
going forward– ensuring that all Kansans are better connected to the digital
economy should be a top priority of the State, the participants said.
“What’s going to happen as drones become more and more user-friendly?”
– Glenna Borho, Pratt
County Commissioner
Expanding mobility is about more than improving highways
in south central Kansas. Many
stakeholders referenced the need for investments in transit, rail, aviation and
bike/pedestrian improvements. They
mentioned the importance of transit services that allow people to access
medical facilities and how offering more bike and pedestrian routes will
provide public health benefits.
The Kansans who attended Tuesday’s event also voiced
strong support for prioritizing highway preservation in the future. The challenge for maintaining infrastructure
will not only be in our limited resources, but also because we may experience
greater demands on our system due to extreme weather. For example, participants noted that K-14
south of Sterling was closed for multiple weeks this summer due to
flooding. The potential impacts of
extreme heat or flooding on our roads and bridges should be considered when
making future improvements, they said.
Like their neighbors to the north at the previous day’s meeting,
South Central Kansans were concerned about water availability in the future and
how that could have enormous implications for where people could live and work.
Despite the uncertainty about the future, it was clear
from the discussion that south central Kansans want the State to be proactive
in delivering transportation projects and programs.
Or as one person said better, “why should we wait for things to happen to us? It’s time to make things
happen for us.”
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