KDOT has launched a two-phase study that involves residents, community leaders and transportation representatives to assess changing transportation
needs in five northeast Kansas counties (Douglas, Johnson, Leavenworth, Miami and Wyandotte).

The 5-County Regional Transportation Planning Study has three goals:

1. Assess the multi-modal transportation needs of the region

2. Prioritize needs.

3. Develop strategies to address those needs.

The Study includes several public meetings intended to solicit opinions and information from citizens. To learn the date and location of the next meeting, see the Get Involved page at the Study website.

the State Transportation Engineer, posted a short statement saying that his agency is keeping a close eye on the proposed federal economic stimulus package, noting that "there are more questions than answers at the moment." If you're one of the several transportation planners who have visited k-TOC looking for information about the stimulus package, the above thread is the place to post your questions and comments.

In Subject-Matter Expert, City of Hays public works director Brenda Hermann blogs about the long-term benefits of infrastructure spending in her community. She focusses on the city's Commerce Parkway project, which was tied to KDOT's construction of a Commerce Parkway interchange on I-70. "During the fifteen years since KDOT finished the Commerce Parkway project," Hermann writes, "the interchange and local investments in other infrastructure have provided tremendous returns for the Hays region and the state."

The final meeting of the T-LINK Task Force is underway at the Statehouse as I write this. The Task Force's preliminary recommendations have been posted to the T-LINK discussion group. You are encouraged to make your opinion known.

A big shout-out to those members who come to K-TOC from outside Kansas. The community now hosts members from Pennsylvania, Missouri, Nebraska, Colorado, Virginia, Oklahoma, California, North Dakota and Michigan, and I'm probably missing a couple of additional states.

We seem to be plowing new ground. Last week we dropped a note to the folks at the Pew Internet and American Life Project, which studies "the impact of the internet on children, families, communities, the work place, schools, health care and civic/political life." We asked them if they knew of anything else out there like K-TOC, and the best comparison they found was change.gov--the website that has since become whitehouse.gov. "I feel pretty safe in saying you're in a select group at the moment," their research associate wrote.

Gotta like that. More soon.

Today, Hays and surrounding Ellis County enjoy a thriving, diverse economy. Great access to Interstate 70, reliable air service via Hays Regional Airport and good short-line rail connections all help make us a commerce hub for northwestern Kansas. Hays-based businesses that serve local, regional, national and international markets have added about 2,000 new jobs to our city of 20,000 people over a ten-year period between 1996 and 2006. Our Airport Industrial Park on the eastern edge of town is full, and we are looking to expand. Meanwhile, development has mushroomed north of Interstate 70 along US-183, anchored by a Wal-Mart Super Center and a Home Depot. We are proud of our growth track record, but the prosperity in and around Hays is not a happy accident.

The seeds for Hays’ most recent round of growth have been carefully cultivated by a strong partnership uniting the City of Hays, Ellis County and the State around the goal of growing economic development.   Our team was born out of necessity. In the 1980s, Hays found its traditional economic base – agriculture and oil-related products – in decline; in particular, closure of Baxter-Travenol Laboratories’ Hays facility in the mid-1980s meant a loss of 1,200 jobs for the community. At the same time, it was becoming obvious that a single Hays interchange at US-183 and Interstate 70 was not sufficient to support the community’s long-term economic aspirations.   In response, t he Ellis County Coalition for Economic Development (ECCED) was set up to provide vision and leadership for local economic development efforts .

One of the Coalition’s first moves was to bring new jobs to the region by building an industrial park on the east side of Hays on public-owned land adjacent to the Hays Regional Airport. To take the industrial park from concept to reality, however, more than $3.5 million in local dollars was invested in sewer and waterline infrastructure and improvements to Commerce Parkway, which connected the new industrial park northward toward Interstate 70. But the final phase in the heavy lifting came in the form of the brand-new $3.5 million Commerce Parkway interchange on Interstate 70 east of downtown that relieved pressure on the overloaded US-183 interchange and provided direct access for the new business park.

The benefits of any infrastructure investment mature over time. During the fifteen years since KDOT finished the Commerce Parkway project, the interchange and local investments in other infrastructure have provided tremendous returns for the Hays region and the state.   Just one example of the pay-off that Hays has gained from the Commerce Parkway project is attracting A-1 Plank and Scaffolding, a custom fabricator with locations in Kansas and California, to the region. It relies on trucks to bring in raw materials and ship its finished products across the country, so the Commerce Parkway interchange is vital for A-1’s continued success. Drawn by a mix of transportation access, low labor costs and incentives from the community, the firm opened its Kansas facility in the Airport Industrial Park in 1996 and has experienced rapid growth. In 2007, A-1 employed 116 people in Hays. Other major employers at the Airport Industrial Park include N.E.W. Inc, a Virginia-based customer service provider with 373 employees in Hays, and Nex-Tech, a Kansas-based rural wireless phone provider with about 75 employees in Hays.

Since the Commerce Parkway interchange project was finished, we have continued to invest in transportation improvements as a tool for growth in Hays. I strongly believe that, when built as part of a comprehensive economic development plan, transportation is an important catalyst for growth.

Brenda Herrman

Director of Public Works, City of Hays, Kansas

Have an opinion? Please comment here.