There is credible research that strongly suggests transportation access is a priority among companies looking for expansion sites.

With 45,000 executive subscribers around the world, Area Development magazine is considered by economic developers the leading publication covering corporate site selection and relocation.  For 24 years, Area Development has surveyed executives who make location decisions.

In its latest survey of corporate executives, 95.4 percent said highway accessibility was either very important or important, making it the top-ranked site selection factor.  That supports groups urging Kansas to enact another comprehensive transportation program this year.  Highway accessibility was followed by labor costs (91.4%), and occupancy and construction costs (90.4%). 

Of course, what is crucial will vary by type of business, but overall, this is a good picture of what’s needed.  In fact, highway accessibility has always been in the top four or five site selection factors over the 24 years the annual survey has been conducted.

Clearly, a new transportation program will be difficult given the budget problems facing state government, but it’s important that we protect current public assets, whether they are policies, systems, institutions such as higher education, or tangible property like roads; so they are all available when businesses need them to expand. 

That time is coming.

Contrary to what you might think, professional site selectors hired by business are as busy as ever.  That’s because companies want to be ready to expand when the economic turnaround begins, whether it’s a restaurant or retailer wanting to take advantage of a high traffic location, or a manufacturing firm concerned about getting raw materials in and finished product out.

What better way to send a strong signal to companies around the country and the world that Kansas is open for business than a robust investment in our transportation infrastructure?

Bernie Koch is Executive Director Kansas Economic Progress Council.

Unless the Legislature authorizes additional funding, KDOT does not have the money to build any of the candidate projects.  The purpose of this pilot effort is to examine a new selection process and identify potential projects so that KDOT is ready when funding becomes available.

Projects that KDOT currently plans to let to construction in the future and projects that are under development but do not have construction funding are provided as background.  The information about the Comprehensive Transportation Program helps show how future projects will build on past investments.

Below is the information KDOT will present at the local consultation meetings in October 2009.

1.   Candidate Projects Scoring

a.    Projects KDOT evaluated using the proposed selection process.  These are projects not currently in the development pool and there are no funds currently available to build these projects.

        i.    Statewide Map of Top Rated Projects.  Map of projects that scored the highest in their respective categories.  The red projects are the top 50 projects.  This map is only an example and doesn’t mean these projects will be put in the development pool.

        ii.    List of Modernization Projects.  Information about the Modernization projects that were evaluated.  Modernization includes projects that add shoulders, flatten hills, straighten curves or improve intersections. 

        iii.    List of Expansion and Enhancement Projects Statewide.  Information about Expansion and Enhancement projects that were evaluated.  Expansion and Enhancement includes projects that add lanes, interchanges or passing lanes. These projects were divided into rural and urban categories.

        iv. Expansion and Enhancement Projects by District

District 1

District 2

District 3

District 4

District 5

District 6

Wichita metro

Kansas City metro

        v.    T-LINK Recommendations Fact Sheet.  Explains the principles that guided the proposed selection process.

       vi.    Comments. Let’s discuss

2.   Projects Committed to Construction or Under Development

a.    2010-12 Project List.  Projects KDOT plans to let to construction in state fiscal years 2010 to 2012.

b.    FY 13 Bridges.  Bridge projects KDOT intends to develop.  Projects will be selected from this list and construction could begin in fiscal year 2013.  Currently, no funds are available for construction.

c.    Projects Under Initial Development.  Expansion and Enhancement projects KDOT is developing; however, there are no funds for construction.

d.   Comments. Let’s discuss

3.   Comprehensive Transportation Program (2000-09) Information

a.    CTP Statewide Highway Spending and Results Map.  A map showing how much was spent to preserve, modernize and expand the state highway system in each county.

b.    CTP Statewide Modal Spending Map. A map showing how much was spent on local roads, transit, aviation and rail projects in each county.

c.     Total CTP Spending Map. A map showing total CTP spending in Kansas.

d.     District Profiles.  Summaries of transportation spending in each region of the state, including demographic information and testimonials about key projects in the regions

District 1

District 2

District 3

District 4

District 5

District 6

d.   County Profiles.  Summaries of transportation spending in each county of the state, including demographic information.  Many highlight an important transportation project. These can be found in the relevant District discussion group.

e.    Economic Impact Fact Sheet.  Transportation projects are critical to growing the state’s economy – click here to learn more.

f.     Comments. Let’s discuss

As Kansas studies new ways to fund transportation projects, it would be a good thing if we looked back and reassessed what we’ve done in the past.

Because while some funding tools have accomplished a lot, now is the time to sharpen and reconfigure those tools to meet new transportation challenges.

For example, many Kansas municipalities have used a funding tool known as the Transportation Development District. As the name suggests, these districts are created to develop or improve transportation infrastructure within a specific area.

Funding for the district usually kicks in when the municipality issues bonds. Money for project costs or debt service comes out of special assessments levied on property in the district, district sales tax revenue or any other funds appropriated by the municipality.

Discussing the fine points of this topic frequently sounds like a recipe for alphabet soup, but please stick with me.

  A Transportation Development District – TDD – is similar to a Tax Increment Financing District – TIF – when it comes to geographically matching revenues to infrastructure development.

But TDDs differ from TIFs in some key aspects. A TDD creates a new taxing district that raises additional tax revenue to pay for transportation improvements. A TIF pays for transportation and other public improvements by capturing incremental tax revenues that cities, school districts and other taxing jurisdictions forego.

In addition, TIFs were originally designed to revitalize blighted areas. TDDs have no such requirement but are limited to transportation improvements.

One of the Kansas cities that has benefitted from TDDs successfully is Olathe. It has approved three such districts since 2005, including two active retail projects.

Marge Vogt, an Olathe City Councilwoman and member of the governor’s Transportation-Leveraging Investments in Kansas (T-LINK) Task Force, told me the TDDs have provided Olathe with revenue it   would not have obtained otherwise.

The money went to widen roads and provide turn lanes and traffic signals – basic transportation essentials in my book.

What was the alternative? “We did not have the funding to do the necessary infrastructure improvements without funding them from these TDDs,” Vogt told me.

I had the opportunity last September to travel around Kansas with the T-LINK Task Force. Citizens who attended the meetings were asked what their preferences were for transportation funding mechanisms. The top five choices overall were gaming fees, vehicle (including truck) registration fees, development fees and motor fuels tax.

TDDs came in at #10 in terms of preference – nothing to be ashamed of but no big whoop.

That came as no big surprise, because TDDs are a bit hamstrung from Day One. A petition to create one must be signed by all the landowners in the proposed district. That can be a recipe for tough going in a highly populated area.

For that reason, Vogt said TDDs work best in green-field areas, where a single developer has control. I agree with her.

Another hindrance of TDDs is they may not be feasible in rural or undeveloped areas that lack the economic activity to support a larger sales tax base.

Members of the T-LINK Task Force recognize these limitations and want to do something to improve funding capabilities. One of their recommendations is creation of a single piece of legislation that combines elements of TDDs, TIFs, STAR Bonds and IMPACT programs.

The rationale is that new methods must be developed to fund the state’s pressing needs for new and improved highways, along with improvements in other transportation modes.

Vogt said she’d also like to see new funding methods reimburse communities that do things to support projects in neighboring communities. What she has in mind is road improvements Olathe is making to handle additional truck traffic from the giant intermodal facility coming to Gardner.

That seems fair to me.

There will be lots of details to work out before it’s over. But most importantly, we must figure out a way to pay for our transportation needs that will be fair, efficient, responsible and most of all DOABLE. Something that sounds great on paper won’t be worth ice in a pothole if the gears don’t mesh in the real world.

Julius Karash, KDOT Public Affairs

Please post comments or questions in the Transportation Development District discussion group.

Our scenic byways offer all kinds of adventures, and each byway offers something special.

The Flint Hills Scenic Byway stretches 47.2 miles of paved two-lane road across the Flint Hills of Kansas on K-177 between Council Grove and Cassoday. It is a beautiful drive year-round showing off the panoramic vistas of the Tallgrass prairie. Numerous historic sites may be found in Council Grove. The byway, which passes the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve and on through Strong City to Cottonwood Falls, is the site of the French Renaissance-style Chase County Courthouse (in operation since 1873), two museums, and the historic Cottonwood River bridge.

South of Cottonwood Falls the Flint Hills Scenic Byway travels among the hills for more panoramic views of the ranches in the area, then dips down into the creekside to follow magnificent stone walls around farmsteads still in operation. The scenic overlook south of Cottonwood Falls gives you a wonderful view of the vast reaches of this prairie land, and the Rogler Ranch Century Farm provides a glimpse of early farm life. Cassoday is the southern end of the byway, where antique shoppers may find just what they have been looking for and may also visit the Cassoday Museum. Cassody is the Prairie Chicken Capital of Kansas, and also hosts motorcycle gatherings the first Sunday of the months of May through October.

The Frontier Military Scenic Byway extends roughly 167 miles tying Fort Leavenworth to the north with Fort Scott to the south, and then onward to the Oklahoma border. It follows K-5 out of Leavenworth to I-435, then follows U.S. 69 and Alternate U.S. 69 to the state line. The route approximates the old military trail used by the Army to transport troops and supplies between the frontier forts. Some of the historic, natural and cultural attractions along the route include Fort Leavenworth and Grinter Place in Leavenworth County, the National Agricultural Center and Hall of Fame in Johnson County and the Legler Barn Museum in Johnson County.   In Miami County you can find the Louisburg Cider Mill and Adair Cabin. Linn County features the Marais des Cygnes Wildlife Area and the Mine Creek Civil War Battlefield. Bourbon Vounty is home to the Fort Scott National Historic Site, the Fort Scott National Cemetery, the Fort Scott Restored Victorian, Commercial and Residential District, and the Gordon Parks Collection at Fort Scott's Mercy Health Center. The Hotel Stilwell in Pittsburg, and "Big Brutus," the second-largest electric coal shovel in the world, are located in Crawford County. The route is a mix of two-lane and four-lane paved roadway. 

The Glacial Hills Scenic Byway begins at the intersection of K-7 and K-92 in Leavenworth, Kansas, and extends 63 miles north through the Glacial Hills of northeast Kansas. It traverses Atchison, Doniphan and Leavenworth counties and visits the communities of Atchison, Leavenworth, Troy and White Cloud along the route. These towns represent the earliest days of pioneer settlement of Kansas along the Missouri River. The Lewis and Clark Expedition to explore the vast Louisiana Purchase camped on July 4th along a creek in what is now Atchison. 

Glaciers once covered the northeast corner of Kansas. When the glaciers receded north, they left behind a unique landscape of rolling, wooded hills, rock-strewn soil and valleys with clear, running streams. Along the Missouri River near White Cloud are unusual towering river bluffs of loess. Loess hills are located in eastern Kansas, western Iowa and eastern Nebraska. The hills are composed of yellow loess soil overlaying older debris left from the last ice age. Sharp-edged ridges and slopes ranging from gentle to very steep characterize them. An overlook in White Cloud affords views of four states: Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Iowa. Wildlife abounds along the Missouri River and can be viewed at Benedictine Bottoms, a natural wildlife area northeast of Atchison as well as at Warnock Lake in Atchison and the Atchison State Fishing Lake and Wildlife Area.

The Gypsum Hills Scenic Byway is approximately 42 miles long and extends from the western city limits of Medicine Lodge to the junction of U.S. 160 and U.S. 183 at Coldwater. It bisects the beautiful Gypsum Hills. Travelers can see flat mesas, deep canyons, sharp high hills, red soils and caprock formations.   The Byway provides a unique opportunity to experience the expansive High Plains and Red Hills physiographic regions. Both topography and vegetation change between the two regions, from rolling farmland and midgrass prairie grazing land to rugged, gypsum-capped flowerpot shale mesas and buttes with minimal vegetation. Medicine Lodge is site of the Indian Peace Treaty and Celebration, held every three years. Fishing, boating, swimming, hunting, bird watching, hiking, trail riding, backpacking and spelunking are available along the route.  Wildlife are abundant as well: deer, turkey, quail, pheasant, raccoons, skunks, beaver, bobcats, porcupine and the occasional armadillo.

The Native Stone Scenic Byway showcases an area in Kansas well-known for its native limestone. Limestone fences frame the portrait of farming and ranching in the area. The native stone is evident in bridges and buildings, as well. The byway journeys on K-4 and K-99 through Mission Creek and Mill Creek valleys, in Shawnee and Wabaunsee counties in the glorious Flint Hills. Natural elements abound: twisting, winding creeks; grazing land, vast vistas, stone deposits, elevation changes, seasonal foliage and wildflowers.

Architectural and historic features reflect civilization's interplay with the natural elements. Dover boasts two historic landmarks: the 1878 Sage Inn and Stagecoach Station and the Dover General Store (café). Eskridge's most prominent architectural element is the Security State Bank Building with its turret and columned arches, built in 1904. The 1905 Henry Sump Barn just south of Alma is a magnificent redwood and limestone barn. Other limestone barns and homes may be enjoyed along the byway.

The Alma business district is 98 percent native stone structures built in the 1800s. In addition, the Wabaunsee County Courthouse is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is built of native limestone and Carthage stone, which gives the appearance of granite. The 50-year-old Alma Creamery provides tours for visitors to watch cheese being made. The Maisie DeVore Public Swimming Pool in Eskridge is unique in that Ms. DeVore financed the pool by collecting aluminum cans.

History buffs can also visit the Wabaunsee County Historical Museum in Alma, with exhibits depicting life in the Flint Hills. In addition, the Shawnee County Historical Society and the Kansas Museum of History are within five miles of the byway. For Civil War buffs, the Beecher Bible and Rifle Church is just north of the byway near Wabaunsee.

If recreational pursuits are more to the vistor's interest, Lake Wabaunsee is "the Gem of the Flint Hills." Picnicking, boating, swimming and golfing are available at this lovely lake. Railroad Park in Alma includes a restored nineteeenth-century log cabin, a millinery shop and a hand-dug well. McKnight Park, just south of Alma, includes ball fields, a soccer field and tennis courts. Alma City Park has a paved walking path, playground, swimming pool and bandshell. Echo Cliff Park near Dover provides the perfect setting for picnicking and enjoying nature.

The Post Rock Scenic Byway is an 18-mile route that extends north and south on K-232 through the Smoky Hills of Ellsworth, Lincoln and Russell Counties in north-central Kansas. K-232 is a two-lane asphalt surfaced road. The byway connects I-70 on the south with K-18 on the north and links the communities of Wilson in Ellsworth County and Lucas in Russell County. This byway is named for the unique native limestone rocks used for fenceposts in the area.

A six-mile segment of the byway is adjacent to the Wilson Lake recreational area, with scenic turnouts that overlook the dam and offer vistas of the lake and the valley below the dam. Rest areas, trails, picnic areas and campgrounds offer a variety of recreational opportunities. Wilson Lake covers 9,000 acres and holds various state fishing records. Weekend anglers and fishing tournament participants can seek white bass, walleye, striped, smallmouth and largemouth bass.

Lucas is the Grassroots Art Capital of Kansas. It is home of the Garden of Eden, a tourist attraction on the National Register of Historic Places, which consists of folk art concrete statues created by S.P. Dinsmoor, a Civil War veteran. Dinsmoor lies in a glass coffin in a mausoleum he built on the cabin grounds. Lucas is also home of the Grassroots Art Center, Miss Deeble's Rock Garden and a grassroots art mural on Main Street. Tours of an operating post rock quarry are also available.

The Post Rock Scenic Byway is a part of the Amazing 100 Miles.

The Prairie Trail Scenic Byway is a 56-mile route through north-central Kansas. It begins in the south at Canton, not far from where the Santa Fe and Chisholm Trails brought travelers and cattle in the 19th century. Canton is home to the Stars and Stripes Military Museum, an 1883 pioneer jail, the last Carnegie Library ever built and two water towers labeled “Hot” and “Cold.” Restaurants and shops are available for visitors. From Canton the Byway heads north on K-86 winding its way through the westernmost edge of the Flint Hills.

Maxwell Wildlife Preserve offers visitors an opportunity to see bison and elk on tram tours by reservation. McPherson State Lake offers fishing, camping and hiking. Continuing north to Roxbury, a short side trip east to Christian Ridge Cemetery offers great views of the area and tells the story of the pioneers. The Byway then heads west from Roxbury on Smoky Valley Road. Great panoramas can be seen on the south side of the road overlooking the Wildlife Refuge and Battle Hill Knobs. Olive Springs School now houses the gallery of famed artist Maleta Forsberg.

Prairie Trail Scenic Byway continues west until the roadway ends at Old U.S. 81. Here the Byway turns north toward Lindsborg, the Swedish Capital of Kansas. Four-foot tall wooden “Dala” horses grace each corner in downtown Lindsborg. They are artfully painted with wonderful names: Salvadore Dala, Hello Dala, etc. Craftsmen can be seen carving Dala horses at the Hemslojd Dala Horse Factory. Arts abound in Lindsborg, with the Birger Sandzen Memorial Gallery, which houses the largest collection of Sandzen’s impressionist paintings; the Red Barn Studio and Raymer Society for the Arts, featuring works by Lester Raymer; the Courtyard Gallery of contemporary artists andSmall World Galleryshowcasing National Geographic photographer, Jim Richardson’s work. Lindsborg is also rich in history with the Old Mill Museum and Heritage Park Complex featuring the Smoky Valley Roller Mill and the Swedish Pavilion, which had been part of the St.Louis World’s Fair in 1904. Just north of Lindsborg, WPA-constructed Coronado Heights offers the viewer a scenic 360-degree view of the Smoky Hill River Valley from the limestone “castle.” Shopping, restaurants and lodging accommodations are available in Lindsborg. Parks are dispersed throughout the community including the Valkommen Trail, a 2-mile paved hiking/biking trail.

The Byway continues west on K-4 from Lindsborg toward Marquette. Downtown Marquette preserves its historic beauty with charming shops and eating places. The Marquette Museum preserves the story of this Swedish community. The Kansas Motorcycle Museum showcases dozens of motorcycles and the motorcycle career of “Stan the Man” Engdahl. The Hanson-Lindfors Mansion is available for tours by reservation.

From Marquette the Byway follows K-4 to K-141 north. From K-141, the traveler can stop at Kanopolis State Park and Reservoir. Recreation opportunities abound here: hiking, bicycling, horseback riding, fishing, boating, hunting, swimming, birding, etc. are available here. A 24.9-mile Millennium Legacy Trail is for hikers, horseback riders and bicyclists. There is also an 80-mile driving trail featuring 27 historic sites, including Faris Caves. Nearby, Mushroom Rock State Park provides unique geologic rock “mushrooms” for visitors to enjoy. The Byway ends at the intersection with K-140, but the byway traveler’s experience can be extended by continuing westward to the community of Ellsworth, rich in cattle trail history.

The Smoky Valley Scenic Byway takes the traveler through 60 miles of west-central Kansas in the Smoky Hill River Valley.  Named for their hazy appearance at sunrise and sunset, the Smoky Hills provide a transition between the mixed-grass prairie and the short-grass prairie of the plains. The Byway offers a showplace of native wildflowers and grasses through the seasons.  Coneflowers, yucca, Indian blanket and sky blue pitcher sage abound. In addition, the croplands provide a panorama of vegetation from the emerald green of winter wheat to the rich russet red of milo. Rock outcroppings hint of the layers of stone left by the inland sea millions of years ago.

Westward-bound pioneers crossed this area as they traversed the Smoky Hill Trail. The Butterfield's Overland Despatch, established at the end of the Civil War, originally carried freight, then passengers from Fort Leavenworth to Denver. Today limestone markers identify two of its crossings along the Byway.

Threshing Machine Canyon near Cedar Bluff State Park and Reservoir is the site of an 1867 Native American attack on a wagon train transporting a threshing machine to Brigham Young in Salt Lake City. Smoky Hill Trail travelers carved their names in the canyon walls. Named for the 100-foot tall, cedar-covered limestone bluffs along the south side of the Lake, the Cedar Bluff State Park and Reservoir is a great place to camp, hike, fish, view wildlife, birdwatch, boat, play volleyball and horseshoes. The Reservoir hosts many fishing tournaments and other special events throughout the year, including "The Gatherin," a Celtic celebration with foods, games and music.

Wakeeney is known as the Christmas City of the High Plains.

The Wetlands and Wildlife National Scenic Byway is the gateway to a panoramic display of birds and wildlife. It curves around Cheyenne Bottoms and Quivira National Wildlife Refuge for 76 miles.

These wetlands consist of acres of radiant water that are the temporary home for clouds of birds as they make their annual migrations. Opportunities abound for bird and wildlife watching, hiking and many other nature activities.

The words of a local naturalist sums it nicely: "There are 650 bird species in the United States, 417 in Kansas and 320 in Cheyenne Bottoms." The Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Area covers 20,000 acres, of which 12,000 acres generally are covered with shallow fresh water. It is considered the largest marsh in the interior of the United States and the most important migration point for shorebirds in North America. Visitors can drive along the dikes for magnificent birdwatching.

Less than 20 miles away from Cheyenne Bottoms is the other jewel of the Wetlands and Wildlife Scenic Byway, Quivira National Wildlife Refuge. Quivira is 22,135 acres of prairie grass, saltwater marshes, sand dunes, canals, dikes and timber. Every spring, Quivira is a staging area for more than 500,000 migratory birds. Hiking trails include the wheelchair-accessible Migrant's Mile Nature Trail and the easy and scenic Birdhouse Boulevard. Quivira also has a lovely Visitor's Center with interpretive displays.

Plans are underway for a Kansas Wetlands Interpretive/Education Center midway along the Byway. It will tell the story of the Kansas Wetlands complex and will offer visitors additional opportunities to experience wildlife viewing.

Byway communities also provide opportunities to enjoy Kansas natural offerings. Great Bend is home to the Central Kansas Raptor Rehab Education Facility. The Hoisington High School Environmental Science class has built a songbird habitat. Byway visitors can also explore the Underground Tunnels in Ellinwood, or stop in Claflin, where the 100-year old furniture store has literally taken over the entire town with "old-fashioned" storefronts throughout.

Sue Stringer

KDOT Public Involvement Liaison

Have a comment or question? Please post it here.

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.

Last summer’s skyrocketing oil prices took a big bite out of consumer pocketbooks.

The price hike sure grabbed my attention, especially since I had just started commuting from Kansas City to my new job with KDOT in Topeka. Would my wife cut my allowance – again?

Less apparent to most consumers was the whammy being flung at asphalt, which comes from the Greek word “asphaltos,” meaning “secure.” But asphalt is a petroleum byproduct, and its availability was anything but secure after the price of oil hit $147 a barrel last July.

To learn about what happened I visited with Roy D. Rissky, KDOT’s Bureau Chief for Construction & Maintenance.

Rissky looked back on a roller coaster ride of a year. “The prices were just going crazy,” he told me. “That makes it really hard to estimate what the projects are going to cost.”

I could tell you how much I was paying for gasoline last summer. What I didn’t know was the price of the asphalt needed to seal the cracks I was driving over.

But Rissky knew only too well. He told me the average price of asphalt cement peaked at $689 a ton in September, up from $294 a ton a year earlier. In previous years the price had hovered in the comfortable range of $180 a ton.

And as prices for oil and asphalt bounded up, Rissky’s anxiety level followed close behind. “We had let all these projects,” he explained. “If people took an asphalt price adjustment, we had to pay them additional money for every ton of asphalt they put down. We ended up spending an additional $10 million.”

Rissky moved quickly to plug the gap. He asked officials in each KDOT transportation district to cut 20 percent from the cost of pavement preservation contracts they were to let in October, November and December for the coming year. If they had been planning to let $20 million worth of contracts, they had to ratchet back to $16 million.

Some lettings were postponed until January. Overall, KDOT reduced its 2009 pavement preservation program from 1,200 miles to 860 miles.

Counties and cities have been feeling the pain, too. Douglas County Engineer Keith Browning told me asphalt price inflation had bled tens of thousands of dollars from his budget. That’s the last thing you need when you’re already fighting a revenue shortfall.

The roller coaster ride got a lot scarier in recent months, as the economy dived into the worst recession in decades. But there are a few bright spots. The price of oil was gurgling between $40 and $45 in mid December, and the price of asphalt settled down to $484 a ton. With folks driving less, the law of supply and demand came into play once again.

If the economy turns around and asphalt prices stabilize in a moderate price range, transportation officials will sleep better and motorists will dodge fewer potholes.

Meantime, Rissky and his colleagues are looking at using more recycled asphalt and “warm-mix” asphalt, vs. the standard “hot-mix” variety.

In fact, warm-mix asphalt is creating a big buzz in the transportation world. I did a Web search on it and found a site called Warm Mix Asphalt. There I learned that the warm-mix process allows producers to turn the thermostat down 50 to 100 degrees, which cuts fuel consumption and greenhouse gases.

Checking out the Web site of the National Asphalt Pavement Association, I learned that nearly 700 people attended a recent International Conference on Warm-Mix Asphalt. The association is excited about the potential for warm-mix concoctions, even though its Web address is still hotmix.org. Maybe they should change that. I suggest asphaltiscool.com.

Looking far into the future, Rissky sees a time when cars will employ levitation technologies that will eliminate the need for both asphalt and concrete roadways. Imagine gliding our cars over grassy medians bedecked with sunflowers. Tire tracks will be excavated like dinosaur footprints. Rissky and I will no longer pore over the per-ton price quotes of the Monthly Asphalt Material Index.

But let’s not hold our breath for those lighthearted levitation days. As Rissky put it – and I agree - “Right now we’ve got to take care of the system we’ve got.”

Julius Karash

KDOT Public Affairs

Have an opinion? Please comment here.

Driving along a Kansas highway with just a few gallons to spare, you come upon a sign that announces a town you’ve never heard of. You wonder if you can fill your car up in that town. If you’re vacationing, you might want to spend a little time at a museum.

But how can you be sure the town will offer what you’re looking for? One way is to take a gander at the Kansas Official Transportation Map, which is published every two years by the Kansas Department of Transportation.

Among its numerous features, the map shows the locations of the 105 Kansas counties, 627 incorporated cities and more than 400 unincorporated towns. You can see the distance between cities, and the incorporated boundaries of cities with more than 15,000 people. You can learn the different spellings for Pottawatomie County and the nearby Potawatomi Indian Reservation.

You can follow the routes of more than 10,000 miles of U.S. and state highways, plus local roads, rural roads and the main lines of railroads.

You can find your way to lakes, the Oregon Trail, the Pony Express route and the state’s colleges and universities.   You can find out where hospitals are located - knowledge that could save your life or that of a loved one.

The map is a labor of love for Fred Holthaus, KDOT Assistant Cartography Manager, who has been busy working on the 2009-2010 edition.

“One of the main things that keeps me going is I feel like I’m helping the public, and I try to give them their money’s worth for what they’re paying me to do this,” said Holthaus, who has been putting the state map together since 1985.   “I’m a taxpayer as well. I feel like I’m creating something that they’re actually getting to use.”

IN DEMAND

KDOT currently publishes 1.5 million copies of the map, up from 750,000 in 1985. About two-thirds of them are distributed by the Kansas Department of Commerce, which also supplies art work and visitor-oriented information for the map.

“The Official State Transportation Map is an incredibly important tool for the Travel & Tourism Division,” said Joe Monaco, Department of Commerce Public   Information Officer. “Over the years, thousands of in-state and out-of-state travelers have used it to plan trips to Kansas and discover new destinations statewide.”

Holthaus was asked why the paper map remains such a hot item in this age of Web searches and Global Positioning Systems.

“It’s just easier to look at something when you can hold it in your hand, and you don’t have to zoom around on the screen to see it,” he said. “However, our map is available online also,” at www.ksdot.org .

Holthaus and other staffers who work on the map strive for accuracy. KDOT field crews travel around the state gathering information, and a computerized version of the map is reviewed by KDOT personnel before it goes to press.

Change is inevitable. “In ‘91-‘92, we took several named places that really didn’t exist any more off the map,” Holthaus recalled. “The reason we took them off is we didn’t want to direct a stranger to a ‘town’ where he would think he could get gas or food or lodging, and then arrive and realize there’s nothing there.”

The 2009-2010 map will feature several changes. Among them:

·          New symbols will indicate that certain museums and historic sites are seasonal attractions that do not have regular visiting hours year-round.

·          State-designated Scenic Byways have been added.

·          The city of Olathe will be spelled in all capital letters - and in a larger font size - to show that it now has a population of more than 100,000 persons.

·          Hillsboro Municipal Airport will appear southwest of the city, and not southeast, as it did on the 2007-2008 map.

·          The Finney Game Refuge near Garden City has been renamed “Sandsage Bison Range Wildlife Area.”

·          The map will have a white background, instead of the green background featured in last year’s map. Part of the reason for this is a KDOT employee who is color-blind told Holthaus he could not distinguish red from green, and therefore had great difficulty seeing roadways marked in red on a green background.

The maps cost 19 cents a copy to produce, or $285,000 for 1.5 million copies. The maps were formerly printed by private companies, but now are produced at the state’s printing plant in Topeka. That saves the state money and provides for more efficient storage and distribution, Holthaus said.

DO NOT BUY THIS MAP!

Consumers should remember that the maps are free, as is stated on the map itself.   If you paid for it, a notation on the map asks that you call KDOT at 785-296-3585, or e-mail publicinfo@ksdot.org .

“A few years back one of our KDOT employees stopped at a convenience store where they had a whole rack of our maps and price stickers on them,” Holthaus said.

Soon after a KDOT staffer was sent to the store to take the maps and tell the store management that the maps were not to be sold.

“They’re to be distributed free to the public, because the taxpayers are already paying for producing these things,” Holthaus said.

Julius Karash

KDOT Public Affairs

Have an opinion? Please post comments here.

The Kansas Legislature is gearing up to start a much-dreaded discussion about creating the next transportation program. Things were bad enough several months ago, as the department looked ahead at the next ten years, the tightening economy and the amount of debt service due on bonding that was issued to complete the existing program.

Then the bottom totally fell out of the bucket, and the nation began a spiral into a very frightening economic period. Kansans have always been quite supportive of their transportation programs, willing to put their money behind their support, but when current economic woes were actually declared a recession, legislators began looking at each other like deer caught in headlights. They had a budget to think about and a very tight wallet.

Many people think that a dollar spent is a dollar spent. Period.

But not all dollars spend the same. Dollars put into repairing a roof live on for years to come. Dollars put in a savings account function totally different from dollars spent at a movie, and dollars invested in an education provide returns for decades upon decades.

So just how does someone count the value of a dollar spent on transportation improvements? Fortunately the answer to that already exists. In the October 12, 1992, U.S. News and World Report was an article discussing how the different states had weathered the economic downturn of that time. In this highly regarded national publication the following appeared, referencing the beginning of the last transportation program:

“As the nation slid into recession during the second half of 1990, highway money began to course through the Kansas economy. Road expenditures leapt from 293 million dollars in 1989 to 429 million in 1991, sending a torrent of dollars through checkbooks and cash registers. In what economists call the multiplier effect, construction workers started buying tools, contractors leased new equipment, and engineering firms started placing help-wanted ads. As highway money worked its way through Kansas’ economic bloodstream, personal income climbed at 2.4 percent, more than twice the national average (in 1991).”

It’s no wonder that economists and president-elect Barack Obama tout a massive infrastructure program as the way to dig America out of its economic woes. Roads and bridges, airports and rail improvements are all a part of that picture that America’s leaders have turned to in the past to lower high unemployment numbers and put food back on the tables of hungry Americans.

So who will be the winners when Congress gives the go? According to economists the most immediate impacts on the economy will be those derived from projects that are already on the table and ready to bid. The amount of time it would take states to generate projects, or to squabble over whether to even have projects, will have a certain and negative impact on their citizens.

Fortunately, Kansas is sitting ready with those projects. Its only challenge will be for legislators to shake off the headlights that are momentarily blinding them, and to move forward quickly.

Ann Charles
Former editor & publisher
Parsons Sun

Have an opinion? Comment on this blog here.