Month: March 2020

Pothole patching continues today in Wyandotte County

The Kansas Department of Transportation will continues its pothole patching on area highways on Friday, March 13, weather permitting.

In Wyandotte County, pothole patching is planned on I-70 and I-635, according to a spokesman.

I-70 eastbound and westbound will have alternating lane closures from 61st Street to the Missouri River.


I-635 northbound and southbound will have alternating lane closures from I-70 to the Missouri state line.

In Leavenworth County, work will take place on K-32 eastbound and westbound, which will have alternating lane closures from 142nd Street to U.S. 24.

Work will occur from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., according to the spokesman. Traffic will be controlled by mobile lane closures using trucks with arrow boards and digital message boards.

The KDOT spokesman urged all motorists to be alert and obey the warning signs when approaching and driving through a highway work zone. To stay aware of all road construction projects across Kansas go to www.kandrive.org or call 5-1-1. Motorists were asked to drive safely and always wear your seat belt, according to the spokesman.

COVID-19 death reported in Wyandotte County

A COVID-19 coronavirus death has been reported in Wyandotte County, according to Gov. Laura Kelly, who spoke at a live-streamed news conference on Thursday in Topeka.

The victim, in his 70s, was a resident of an 80-bed skilled nursing home, according to officials, and was taken on Tuesday to Providence Medical Center, where he died Wednesday morning. He had other underlying medical conditions and was receiving care for them at the hospital, according to officials.

The patient was not tested for coronavirus until after he died, according to officials. He was in the hospital only a relatively short time, officials stated.

Mayor David Alvey, at the news conference, said, “We are terribly saddened to learn that one of our own has passed away.”

He said the UG Health Department will continue to conduct a contact investigation of the patient’s steps so they can identify anyone who has been exposed to the virus.

Dr. Lee Norman, secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, said others in the nursing home will be tested. He did not identify the name of the nursing home.

Gov. Kelly has declared a state of emergency in Kansas. It will open the Kansas response plan to bring in emergency response functions, according to officials, to coordinate and synchronize resources across the state.

State officials are planning to restrict visitations at nursing homes.

The case today was the fifth confirmed coronavirus case in Kansas and the first death in Kansas.

More information about COVID-19 is at the KDHE website at http://www.kdheks.gov/coronavirus/index.htm.

The Centers for Disease Control COVID-19 page is at https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/summary.html.

The UG website on coronavirus is at www.wycokck.org/coronavirus.