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Kansas Statehouse in Topeka

NEWTON — Kansas plans to invest the nearly $85 million the state received in federal coronavirus relief funding for infrastructure programs and services in every county, leaving no part of the state behind, Gov. Laura Kelly said Thursday.

The governor was joined by Transportation Secretary Julie Lorenz at a street paving project in Newton to announce plans for the statewide distribution of the federal COVID-19 relief money.

In deciding how to best invest the money it received, the state also decided on an approach that would invest the maximum amount of dollars into the economy in the least amount of time. It also is targeting additional economic opportunities in communities that have been hardest hit during the pandemic, Kelly said.

The federal coronavirus relief funding approved by Congress in December included $10 billion for state highway and transportation systems. Kansas received a total of $94 million, with $9.1 million of that money federally designated to go directly to the Kansas City and Wichita metro areas.

The Kansas Department of Transportation said it will distributed the remaining funds to cities and counties to restore motor fuel tax revenue losses, advance preservation work, and increase funding for the popular local partnership programs.