Surveying work led to shotgun blasts Tuesday afternoon along the proposed route of a controversial highway project, officials said.

Prosecutors allege 45-year-old Robert Matthew Krische fired a shotgun at two Kansas Department of Transportation employees who were in the area doing work related to the proposed realignment of U.S. Highway 59 between Lawrence and Ottawa.

Krische, who lives on the road about 8 miles south of Lawrence, faces two counts of aggravated assault.

KDOT spokesman Jim McLean said Krische confronted a surveyor and escorted him off the property. Two other employees then came to the home, and according to a sheriff’s report, Krische fired a shotgun once in the air and once at their vehicle while they were sitting in it.

No one was injured.

“Some of our projects are controversial with people who live in and around them,” McLean said. “There’s really never any reason for it to escalate to this level.”

The department wants to build a new road 300 feet to the east of the existing road, but some neighbors oppose it, in part because it’s expected to destroy 33 homes.

“As frustrated as we have been, we would never support such actions,” said Caryn Goldberg, a spokeswoman for the coalition that opposes the project.

McLean said he didn’t know whether Krische’s home was targeted for demolition.

The department usually contacts residents in advance and warns them about the surveying, but McLean acknowledged the message might not have reached Krische because he rents.

A man who answered the phone at Krische’s residence said he couldn’t comment.

Krische appeared in court Wednesday for a formal reading of the charges and was later released from jail on his own recognizance.

He is scheduled to be in court again April 24.