Projects to rebuild Sixth Street and relocate U.S. Highway 59 remain on track under Gov. Kathleen Sebelius’ proposal to restructure the state’s transportation program.

But don’t look for any money to finish the South Lawrence Trafficway in her budget proposal.

“The governor has figured out how the projects that are promised can be funded,” said Krista Roberts, a spokeswoman for the Kansas Department of Transportation. “We won’t be adding any new ones.”

The projects on Sixth Street and U.S. 59 long have been considered part of the state’s Comprehensive Transportation Program, a $12.8 billion plan approved in 1999 and designed to address the state’s transportation needs for 10 years. The trafficway was not included on the original list.

Inclusion on the list has grown more important than ever, now that the state has been siphoning money away from the plan to balance the overall state budget during the past several years. At least $200 million already has been diverted, and officials would expect an additional $665 million to be sucked away through 2009 if the state didn’t step in with more money.

That’s why Sebelius proposes issuing $465 million in bonds for transportation. The money — along with $161 million saved by refinancing other debts and $250 million in other cuts — would cover the shortfall, and come on top of the $277 million in bonds already authorized for transportation by the Legislature in 2001.

And through it all, no new projects would be added to the list.

“It’s difficult to pay for the same projects twice,” said Rep. Tom Sloan, R-Lawrence. “It’ll be a tough sell. I don’t know that the Legislature is going to agree to it. We’re, in effect, buying the same projects twice.”

Officials at Lawrence City Hall aren’t worried.

Sixth Street safe

While concerns arose about the Sixth Street project in recent years, KDOT is moving ahead with plans to start construction this summer.

The $14.6 million project is designed to rebuild Sixth Street from Champions Lane — the unbuilt road north of Sixth Street that would lead to Free State High School — west to the trafficway.

The project will widen Sixth Street to four lanes, with room for right-turn lanes and double left-turn lanes at each intersection. A grass median will run down the middle.

The city already has spent $600,000 designing the project, and KDOT is buying property to make way for the new lanes, said Terese Gorman, city engineer. Construction is expected to begin this summer and last into late 2005.

And even if the state’s budget problems keep the city from landing another KDOT project anytime soon, she said, officials shouldn’t complain.

“They’ve definitely committed to this project in its entirety,” Gorman said. “We need to be thankful for what we’re getting, because we’re getting a lot.”

U.S. 59 on schedule

Plans for relocating U.S. 59 also remain on schedule, Roberts said.

The $210 million project would be built along a route 300 feet east of the existing highway between Lawrence and Ottawa. Engineers are busy designing the freeway; KDOT plans to hire contractors in 2007 and have the freeway open for traffic in 2009.

“They’re still on schedule and moving forward,” Roberts said.

The trafficway, however, remains off the state’s books.

Running a highway from U.S. 59 to Kansas Highway 10 southeast of town, near Noria Road, is a $110.2 million job. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has agreed to allow construction of the highway through the Baker Wetlands, but opponents have pledged to go to court to stop the project.

Sebelius’ plan to restructure the transportation program squeezes every last penny simply to keep the already-approved projects on the map, Roberts said. Finding money for a new project simply is out of the question.

And that’s assuming the Legislature approves Sebelius’ proposal to issue bonds.

“If that piece isn’t there,” Roberts said, “there would either have to be something to replace it or something would have to go away.”

Rep. Tom Holland, D-Baldwin, said legislators had grown weary of judging a 10-year transportation program on an annual basis.

“I compliment the governor for stepping up and officially recognizing the fact that this isn’t the way to run a railroad,” he said, referring to the state’s previous moves to balance its overall budget with sales-tax revenues previously promised for transportation. “(By issuing bonds,) you’re removing uncertainty. We have a way to pay for these projects.

“That’s a very positive thing.”