Month: April 2015

I-435 Missouri River bridge repair project to begin Wednesday in Wyandotte County

An I-435 bridge project over the Missouri River will begin Wednesday in Wyandotte County. (KDOT photo illustration)
An I-435 bridge project over the Missouri River will begin Wednesday in Wyandotte County. (KDOT photo illustration)

A repair project will begin Wednesday, April 29, on the northbound and southbound I-435 bridges over the Missouri River in Wyandotte County.

Project work includes the replacement of the bridge expansion joints, patching work and overlay on the bridge deck, a KDOT spokesman said. Additional work includes barrier rail repair, replacement of the bridge approach pavement and repair on the bridge abutments. Work will take place during daylight hours, Monday through Friday, with some occasional Saturday work.

Beginning at 7 a.m. on Wednesday, April 29, northbound I-435 over the Missouri River Bridge (including .05-miles on either side of the bridge) will be reduced to two open lanes as traffic control work begins.

Then at 9 a.m. through late afternoon that same day, northbound I-435 over the bridge will be reduced to one open lane so that crews can complete pavement marking and other traffic control work. At 7 a.m. on Thursday morning, April 30, northbound I-435 over the Missouri River Bridge (including .05-miles on either side of the bridge) will be reduced to two open lanes, 24/7 round the clock, throughout the project duration, according to KDOT.

Approximately one to two weeks later, southbound I-435 over the Missouri River Bridge (including .05-miles on either side of the bridge) will be reduced to two open lanes, 24/7 round the clock, for repair work throughout the project duration. Advance separate notification will be sent out in advance of the southbound I-435 lane reduction.

Advance message boards will alert traffic to the I-435 lane closures, according to KDOT. Traffic will be detoured through the project work zone via concrete barrier, signage and cones. There will be a posted speed limit of 60 mph through the work zone throughout the duration of the project. Drivers should expect delays during peak commute times and may wish to use alternate routes if possible.

Updated daily traffic information for this project and the entire Kansas City metro area can be viewed online: www.ksdot.org/kcmetro/laneclose.asp.

The Kansas Department of Transportation urges all motorists to be alert, obey the warning signs, and slow down when approaching and driving through the project work zone, the spokesman said.
Comanche Construction Inc. is the primary contractor on this bridge repair project with a total contract cost of $3.779 million. The scheduled completion date for the overall project is early December 2015, weather permitting.

This project is funded by T-WORKS, the transportation program passed by the Kansas Legislature in May 2010. Find out more about this and other T-WORKS projects at: http://kdotapp.ksdot.org/TWorks/.

KCKCC home finale Tuesday; in playoff at Butler County Saturday

by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC

Kansas City Kansas Community College will open Region VI playoff action Saturday at Butler County – but not until after the Blue Devils close out home field non-conference action.

At home today in a 3 p.m. doubleheader against Saint Mary’s JV, the Blue Devils will also play host to Maple Woods in a pair of 7-inning games at 1 p.m. Tuesday.

In Butler County, the Blue Devils (28-23) will be facing a team (26-27) that finished in a three-way tie for third in the Jayhawk West (17-15). A best-of-three series, two 9-inning games will be played in El Dorado Saturday starting at 1 p.m. with a third game if necessary set for Sunday.

Blanked 7-0 by Fort Scott in the opening game of a doubleheader Sunday, the Blue Devils rebounded behind the pitching of Brandon Martinkus for a 5-3 win that secured a fifth place finish in the Jayhawk East (16-20).

After Fort Scott had taken a 1-0 lead in the first inning of the nightcap, the Blue Devils tied it in the second on singles by Sam Baxter and Daniel LaMunyon and a squeeze bunt by Landon Mason. The Greyhounds regained the lead with two runs in the third but KCKCC got a run in the bottom of the inning on one of three singles by Alex Thrower and an RBI single by Travis Stroup.

Trailing 3-2, the Blue Devils won it with three runs in the fifth. After a one-out single by Thrower and a double by Tanner Freschler, Stroup singled in the tying run, Eli Lovell’s sacrifice fly scored the go-ahead run and Baxter added an insurance run with a double.

Martinkus took it from there, allowing only two baserunners over the final six innings, finishing with a 6-hitter, walking one and striking out five.

Fort Scott had pulled into a tie with the Blue Devils for fifth place in the 7-0 opening loss as Ryan McCollough allowed just two hits – singles by Foreschler and Tyler Raymond – while striking out seven.

Alan Hoskins is the sports information director for KCKCC.

New high school slated for Piper district’s plan; mail-in ballot to go to voters

Building plan addresses high growth rate in Piper’s enrollment

by Mary Rupert

A new high school at 131st and Leavenworth Road is on a special mail-in election ballot for the Piper School District.

The bond issue has a cap of $67.5 million to construct, equip, furnish and repair district buildings, including a new high school plus remodeling other school buildings.

Most ballots will be mailed to registered voters in Piper around May 20 and must be returned to the election office by noon June 9, said Election Commissioner Bruce Newby. He said if the ballot is not returned to the office by noon June 9, it does not count. He urged voters to send back their ballots right away after receiving them. If it is too close to the June 9 deadline, he said, voters may have to drop off the ballots in person at the Election Office, 850 State Ave., before noon June 9.

One of the prominent features of the school district improvements will be a new high school to be built at 131st and Leavenworth Road, on property the district has owned for about 10 years. The property is 75 acres on the south side of Leavenworth Road, currently used as agricultural land, said Piper Superintendent Tim Conrad. The target opening date would be the fall of 2018.

The new high school would accommodate up to 1,100-plus students, he said. Existing buildings would be reconfigured. Under the plan, the existing high school would become a middle school with grades 6 to 8, then the existing middle school would become grades 3 and 4, and the east elementary building would become just grade 5. The Piper elementary building would become kindergarten through second grade.

According to district information, the decision to build the high school all at once, and not in a phased-in approach, would take advantage of current construction costs and low interest rates.

A study has shown that the median price of an owner-occupied home in the Piper area is about $199,500, and with this bond issue, those taxpayers would pay from about $21 to $28 a month additionally, according to Conrad. It is about $1.10 a day, school officials pointed out.

Piper’s current mill levy is 59.536, which is higher than the Turner and Kansas City, Kan., districts, but lower than Bonner Springs, Basehor-Linwood, DeSoto-Mill Valley, Blue Valley, Spring Hill, Gardner, Olathe and Eudora, according to district information.

Studies have shown an average of about 5 percent increase in enrollment during the last five years in the Piper district, Conrad said. This year, there has been a 6.5 percent increase, and there is an anticipated 5 to 6 percent increase each year for the next 15 years, he said. The 6 percent increase this year equals about 115 extra students in the district, he added.

In another two or three years, the existing elementary school will be at capacity, and in another five years, the existing high school building will be at capacity, according to district information.

The discussion about the new school buildings began long before the school finance discussions this year. It has been about 15 months since the process started, with a facility advisory committee made up of patrons, surveys, information and opportunities for residents to comment.

The study group considered several solutions and settled on a new high school as the best long-term solution, according to district information.

The mail-in ballots are being sent to all persons who have been registered voters of the Piper district by May 11, Newby said. Anyone registering to vote between May 11 and 19 will have to specifically request a ballot, and ballots will not be sent automatically to them, he added.

Newby said that the wrong election information dates were on some information that has been mailed out to the district’s voters recently through a third party that has been handling a mailer. Those incorrect dates were not checked with his office first, he added.

More detailed information about the project can be found on the school district’s website at Piperschools.com.

Anyone with questions about the ballots may call the Election Office, 913-573-8500 or visit the website at www.wycokck.org/election.