Site work and paving for a civil project in Gardner, Kansas. Conceptual plans call for site work for a road / highway; and for paving for a road / highway.

https://www.cjonline.com/story/news/local/2024/03/08/us-75-highway-to-be-widened-to-four-lanes-north-of-holton/72894093007/ Federal funding announced Thursday by Gov. Laura Kelly will enable the state of Kansas to widen traffic to four lanes from two on a fatality-plagued stretch of US-75 highway north of Holton. The $126 million project will widen US-75 to a four-lane expressway from Holton north to its intersection with K-20 highway, which connects with US-75 after running east from Horton past the Kickapoo Golden Eagle Casino. The US-75 project was among three northeast Kansas highway projects totaling $186 million in infrastructure investment that have been added to the IKE Development Pipeline, Kelly said Thursday. That program is also known as the Eisenhower Legacy Transportation Program. Federal funding announced Thursday by Gov. Laura Kelly will enable the state of Kansas to widen traffic from two lanes to four on a fatality-plagued stretch of US-75 highway north of Holton. What happens now Thursday's announcement clears the way for preliminary engineering work to begin on each of the three projects. The stretch of US-75 highway set to be widened includes the location about 12 miles north of Holton where Sabetha residents Carmen Ukele, Stephen M. Ukele and Marlee Ukele were killed in November 2017 on a head-on collision with a vehicle that was passing another vehicle on US-75. Various other fatality crashes, many involving vehicles that were passing others, have also occurred over the years in the area involved. The other two northeast Kansas projects announced Thursday involve modernizing the interchange of Interstate 35 and US-56 highways in Johnson County at an estimated cost of $25 million and rebuilding and realigning K-5 highway in Wyandotte and Leavenworth counties at an estimated cost of $35 million. What did the governor say Kelly expressed appreciation to community leaders, area residents and Kansas Sen. Dennis Pyle, who represents the district involved, for having advocated for widening US-75 in the area. "The successful community efforts to raise awareness of transportation needs along the US-75 corridor in northeast Kansas make us all proud," Pyle said. "The addition of this expansion project to the IKE Development Pipeline is an important step toward enhancing the safety of a vital corridor for commerce and the traveling public it serves." Get the Afternoon Headlines newsletter in your inbox. Get the latest headlines you may have missed Delivery: Weekdays Your Email The state in 2021 built two passing lanes on a two-mile stretch of US-75 highway north of Holton to help mitigate concerns about crashes in the area involving passing vehicles. But former Sabetha resident Janie Murk, who had initiated a 2017 online petition drive that asked for US-75 to be widened all the way from Holton north to the Nebraska border, described that move at the time as being "more of a Band-Aid" opposed to what really needed to be done. Murk now lives in Junction City but still drives regular to Sabetha to visit her grandmother. She said Friday that while she still thinks US-75 should be widened all the way north to Nebraska, she was "very happy" to hear that it will be widened as far north as what she called "the casino turn." The widening of the highway will save lives, Murk added. "Spending money to help save someone's life is very important," she said. What other highway projects are being financed A total of 17 projects statewide totaling $932 million are now included in the IKE Development Pipeline, the Kansas Department of Transportation said in a news release Thursday. Input from Kansans helped determine what investments were of the highest priority to rural and urban communities, said KDOT secretary Calvin Reed. The selection process is flexible to meet economic needs and is based on engineering data, local consultation and geographic distribution, he said. A list of all the IKE Development Pipeline projects and more information on modernization and expansion projects can be found online. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Addition of traffic signals at the ramp intersections and a right turn lane for northbound traffic and extension of the left turn lane for westbound traffic. As of September 20, 2023, this project is include in the City of Gardner's 2023-2024 Capital Improvement Program (CIP). Information regarding a design firm and the general contractor selection timeline has not been disclosed. A firm construction timeline has not been released. *Project information has been obtained through a public capital improvement plan (CIP). A CIP is a financial schedule for short- and long-range projects which is updated regularly. Information listed in the CIP often evolves based on funding availability and the project details, including timeline and value, are subject to change. The content management team will continue to pursue additional details as they become available.