Kdot

By Cliff Judy (BUTLER COUNTY, Kan.) You may have recently noticed Kansas Department of Transportation crews replacing hundreds of what look like perfectly good signs along Highway 254. KDOT tells us they were perfectly good 10 years ago and need to be replaced for safety. The thousands of highway signs replaced each year in Kansas cost of hundreds of dollars each.  Eyewitness News continues to look into projects around the state, how much they cost, and how they affect you. Right now, Kansas Department of Transportation crews are replacing more than 1,000 highway signs in Sedgwick, Butler, and Harvey Counties.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) - The Kansas transportation secretary says federal stimulus money have brought more than 3,300 transportation jobs to the state. Deb Miller, secretary of the Kansas Department of Transportation, says the jobs have a monthly payroll of $4.4 million. The state received $378 million in federal funds for transportation projects. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that the transportation department says the stimulus package had created 3,375 jobs as of May, a 13 percent increase from April and a 47 percent increase since March.

    The following is a statement from Kansas Transportation Secretary Deb Miller regarding Governor Parkinson's announcement to sweep funds from the State Highway Fund into the State General Fund.   "There are few options left to balance the budget this late in the fiscal year, so I understand the steps the Governor has taken. But in this tough economic time, the $257 million in cuts this year to the State Highway Fund are beyond stunning. The burden of balancing the state budget has fallen very heavily on the construction industry.

The state has used a lot of sand and salt this winter. More than 20 inches of snow fell in some parts of Kansas last month, and we are not done yet. But despite the record snowfalls, the Kansas Department of Transportation said supplies are stocked. Crews are ready for the next spring snow storm. Rain is expected to start falling in south central Kansas late Friday night into early Saturday morning. The rain changing over to snow mix could complicate how crews treat highways.

The Kansas Department of Transportation continues looking at options for expanding passenger rail service in Kansas. KDOT announced today that they've narrowed the options down to two alternatives. One of them is nighttime service between Newton and Fort Worth, Texas. The other is a daytime service between Kansas City and Fort Worth. KDOT says a Service Development Plan (SDP) will be compiled for each of the two alternatives. The SDP is a detailed business plan that outlines the steps necessary to expand passenger rail service as well as how it would operate.

by Sarah Kallail (WICHITA, Kan.) The Kansas Department of Transportation says proposed budget cuts will cost the state jobs and hurt the state's highway system. Monday Governor Mark Parkinson announced his plan to balance the state budget, which is currently facing a $259 million deficit. KDOT says it will transfer $50 million from the State Highway Fund to the State General Fund to address the state's financial crisis. It says that will eliminate highway preservation projects, such as resurfacing, and equipment purchases.

State transportation officials face less money, and they are askign communities where it should be sued. The Kansas Department of Transportation came to Dodge City Wednesday. Representatives from KDOT talked with city and county leaders about current and future road work. In order to have projects ready to go when funding becomes available, KDOT must complete preliminary studies, purchases and design work. "It's really a follow-up to what we have promised in the past. Every couple of years we will come out and host what we call 'local consulatation' and, again, gather our local owners, our state partners and talk about transportation issues and transportation needs within the region," said KDOT spokesperson Jerry Younger.

A new headache for drivers along East Kellogg.  For the next three weeks, Kellogg will be down to two lanes in each direction between Hillside and Oliver. Crews with the Kansas Department of Transportation are putting up new electronic signs. Those signs are part of a new intelligent traffic system to warm drivers of problems ahead. The speed limit is 50 mph. The first phase of the project is expected to come online this fall.

Sunday night in Wichita, dozens of cars were in ditches and several had gotten into an accident on Kellogg road. Monday morning signs of the slick roads made commuters like take a little extra time to get to work. “I think we were expecting this a couple of months ago maybe and now that it's finally here it has taken us by surprise,” said cautious driver Susan Wolfe. The Kansas Department of Transportation says had drivers heeded the signs, surprise wouldn't be a factor.

(HAYSVILLE, Kan.) Taking $28 million from KDOT's budget means taking money away from road projects. The Kansas Department of Transportation says it will cut 84 projects if the governor's proposal goes through. That includes the repairs planned for State Bridge #352. Drivers know it as the bridge on Broadway spanning the Big Ditch. "Go across it every day," said Jamie Mainzer, "for me to go to work, my wife to go to work. " And he uses his car to do that.