Corps narrows SLT options

Route alternatives limited to 32nd Street, 42nd Street alignments

The estimated cost for finishing the South Lawrence Trafficway ranges from $105 million to $130 million, a transportation official said Wednesday.

That assumes the federal government signs off on a plan, the courts clear any legal obstacles, and the state can come up with the money.

State cash crunch could hinder trafficway’s progressThe state’s budget struggles could put the brakes on finishing the South Lawrence Trafficway, said Mike Rees, chief counsel for the Kansas Department of Transportation.In case it can’t find the full $105 million or $130 million needed to build the highway, Rees said, KDOT could spend about $30 million to acquire land, hire engineers, move dirt and rebuild wetlands should the 32nd Street alternative be chosen.The road itself might have to wait.”If the funding picture was so bad, at least the corridor would be preserved,” Rees said. “We’re trying to keep all our options open.”

“A lot of this is still up in the air,” said Mike Rees, chief counsel for the Kansas Department of Transportation. “We’re still going forward with the idea we can do it, but we’re not going forward blindly. We want to do what we can do.”

Completion of the trafficway designed to connect the Kansas Turnpike northwest of Lawrence with Kansas Highway 10 east of town remains on hold as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers puts the finishing touches on its draft environmental impact statement.

KDOT needs the corps’ approval of the document before moving ahead with construction. It also would settle which path the trafficway would take from U.S. Highway 59 to K-10 near Noria Road, which would complete the highway loop around Lawrence.

Robert Smith, the corps’ project manager for the trafficway, said the draft impact statement would be released in mid-August and include two “preferred” route alternatives for construction.

“‘No-build’ is not one of them,” he said. “We’ve selected two preferred alternatives, and we’ll let the public comment on those two alternatives.”

While Smith declined to identify the preferred routes, Rees said the document would recommend building a four-lane highway along either:

A 32nd Street alignment, through the Baker Wetlands south of Haskell Indian Nations University, at an estimated cost of $105 million. Previous estimates have ranged from $90 million to $100 million.

A 42nd Street alignment, south of the Wakarusa River, at an estimated cost of $130 million.

Once the draft document is released, the corps will accept public comments about the routes for at least 45 days. The corps already has completed consultations with eight American Indian tribes that have current or historical roots in Kansas, and it has received comments from another 60 to 70 tribes.

All public comments received will help shape the final document, Smith said, which should settle on a single route.

“We’re saying that the overall public interest would could be served by the selection of either of the alternatives,” Smith said. “That’s the way it appears today. It’s very close. They’re very close, in the pros and cons of each alternative.

“We’re looking at a balance here, at what would best serve the overall public interest in this matter.”

The trafficway project has been driven by controversy, protest and frustration for more than a decade. The western stretch of the project, from the turnpike’s Lecompton exit to U.S. 59 near 35th and Iowa streets, opened to traffic in 1996. But plans for the eastern section have been blocked by opposition from environmentalists, American Indians and others concerned about the wetlands, the Haskell campus and suburban sprawl.

KDOT’s Rees isn’t fazed.

“A route still remains possible by this fall,” Rees said. “Depending on the alignment permitted by the corps, the department still remains committed to getting the trafficway built.”