Topeka ? All highway projects under the state’s current transportation plan, including improvements on U.S. Highway 59, will be completed as scheduled, officials said Monday. The $13 billion, 10-year transportation program is entering its last three years.

Included in the program is nearly $190 million in grading, bridge work and surfacing along 19 miles of 59 in Douglas and Franklin counties.

These projects will be ongoing for several years with a completion date in 2011. The last contract for the project is expected to be let in the fiscal year that starts July 1, 2009, according to the Kansas Department of Transportation schedule.

“We still have concerns about the cost of commodities, and we will continue to monitor this situation and its impact on our project costs,” Kansas Transportation Secretary Deb Miller said, referring to the entire plan.

“Despite this, I remain cautiously optimistic that we will meet the schedules contained in this document,” she said, referring to a schedule of projects.