U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, D-3rd Dist., visited sites in the 3rd District during a transportation and infrastructure tour on Friday.
She said she met with engineers and public officials to learn about the facilities and projects that are receiving federal funding. Rep. Davids serves on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
Rep. Davids said she was seeking as broad an understanding of the local projects and needs as possible. She heard from local governments, cities, counties and project engineers.
She said the engineers and planners she met today were interested in making sure that the communities did not lose the things that were helping and wanted to make sure they received the funding for the projects that were really needed.
Among the sites Rep. Davids visited today were the Lewis and Clark Bridge reconstruction project and the 18th and Central intersection improvement project. Additionally, she visited the New Century AirCenter in New Century, Kansas, and the Tomahawk Creek Wastewater Treatment Facility in Leawood, Kansas.
At the 18th and Central Avenue intersection today, Rep. Davids heard about the project from Todd Thalmann, assistant vice president of TranSystems, the project manager; and from Sarah Frost, senior planner with TranSystems.
The $1.3 million 18th and Central project was completed with Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program funds from the federal government, along with a 20 percent local match, Thalmann said. In this project, a five-way intersection, where vehicles waited a long time at stoplights, was converted into a four-way intersection.
The Park Drive part of the intersection was closed and the Park Drive area for a block was converted into parking spaces, with traffic diverted a block north to Central Avenue to enter the 18th and Central intersection.
The new intersection has better traffic flow, upgraded traffic signals, improved accessibility for pedestrians and the disabled, and has enhanced the aesthetics of the intersection, which serves as the gateway into the Central Avenue corridor, according to project engineers.
Thalman said at the time of the project, he worked a lot with the Central Avenue Betterment Association, which wanted more streetscape projects, beautifying the sidewalks, but they had to stop short of some of the ideas because they didn’t have the funding. Possibly there will be more grant opportunities in the future to fund the ideas.
There also were hopes that some of the buildings on the former Park Drive corner at 18th could be redeveloped, Thalmann said.
Thalmann said he is currently working on a project to redo an interchange near I-435 and State Avenue as a possible diverging diamond interchange. That and another project in Village West are not funded yet, he added.
Sarah Frost, senior planner with TranSystems, discussed issues such as micro transit growth and new developments in public transit.
Other topics that came up during the short discussion today at 18th and Central were regional funding mechanisms for transportation projects and possible ways to mesh on-demand rides with public transportation.
