Grant sought for K-10 project

City seeks money to make East Hills intersection safer

Kirsten Krug admits she sometimes crosses her finger as she makes the dangerous left-hand turn across Kansas Highway 10 to go to her job at the East Hills Business Park.

City leaders probably will have to do more than that if they hope to receive the full $1.8 million in state grant money they’re requesting to fix the controversial entrance to the city’s largest industrial area.

Members of the Kansas Highway Advisory Commission on Wednesday told city and East Hills leaders the state probably won’t fund the entire amount. Ross Markle, a commission member, said his group had already received $22 million in applications for the northeast Kansas area – but only had $2 million to award.

“Your project is just $200,000 short of the entire amount we have to give,” Markle said. “We’re going to have to look at that issue.”

A Lawrence Ready Mix cement truck makes a turn south off Kansas Highway 10 onto Franklin Road. The city is applying for .8 million in state funding to extend Franklin Road north and connect it into the East Hills Business Park to the east.

But state leaders said they did see the need for the project – which would close the current entrance at East Hills and create a new entrance a half-mile west – and might pay for part of it.

Chuck Soules, the city’s director of public works, said the project should cut down on the potential of high-speed traffic colliding with vehicles turning into the business park.

“When you have an accident out here, it generally is going to be a serious one,” Soules told the committee, noting the high number of large, slow-moving parks on the highway. “It won’t be a fender bender.”

Soules said he understood the state’s difficulty in spending most of its grant money on a single project.

“We would be willing to share,” Soules said.

But whether the project could move forward largely depends on how much money the state could offer. The city already had planned on spending $600,000 in local money, in addition to the $1.8 million in state funding. Soules said the city likely would have to discuss the cost with the county or with East Hills businesses.

Krug, who is human resources manager for Amarr Garage Doors, said she was encouraged that committee members seemed to understand the need for change, especially since the Kansas Department of Transportation has turned down previous plans to improve the entrance.

“I’m really excited,” Krug said. “I think this is some serious progress.”

An announcement on the grant winners is expected in late December or early January. If awarded the grant, construction couldn’t begin until 2008.

The proposal

What city engineers are proposing is an extension of Franklin Road – the road that leads to the Douglas County Jail. The road currently doesn’t go north of Kansas Highway 10.

Under the proposal, Franklin would be extended a short distance north of the highway and a new road would be built to the east to connect it with East Hills. The new intersection would have a traffic signal, which would allow motorists to enter and leave the park without having to find a gap or merge into 65-mile-per-hour traffic. The current entrance to East Hills, about a half-mile farther east, would be closed.

Some neighbors, though, would like the new entrance to be placed at Noria Road, which is on the eastern edge of the business park, to reduce the impact on existing neighborhoods.