City may discontinue intersection project

May 16—The Abilene City Commission made some headway on a course of action for the NW 14th Street and Van Buren Street intersection project during the commission's May 13 meeting.

With the Kansas Department of Transportation requesting a prompt answer on whether the city will accept the cost share program funds, the majority of the commission voted to not build a roundabout to replace the "turkey foot" intersection. They also directed staff to attempt to create a design concept that keeps the general form of the intersection that KDOT will approve.

The resolution introduced at the start of the conversation was for the city to accept the KDOT Fall 2023 Cost Share Program funds to create engineer designs for either a four-way stop or a roundabout to modernize the intersection within KDOT's specifications. The department awarded $724,500 for the intersection project last year.

The city has delayed in accepting the money because residents living around the intersection have voiced their disapproval of building a four-way stop or roundabout intersection, both of which will require residents to lose some of their land. Ron Marsh, city manager, said KDOT needed to know as soon as possible whether the city will be accepting the cost share funds. The department did not give a hard deadline, but they needed to know this month.

Marsh gave a several-minute introduction for the agenda item. Marsh said reconstruction of the intersection is needed because the city is working on developing the industrial park west of the intersection along 2300 Avenue and Fair Road. The city has applied for several grants for the development. Kansas State Legislation has approved $2.5 million in Senate Bill 28 to assist in the development.

"I respectfully urge the city commission to sign the agreement with KDOT to accept the funding for the modernization of the NW 14th Street and Van Buren Street intersection," Marsh said. "This project represents a critical step towards realizing the City of Abilene's vision for economic growth and infrastructure development. By improving this intersection and developing the industrial corridor, we will create new opportunities for job creation, economic prosperity, an expanded tax base, and community enhancement."

Copy of Marsh's full statement can be found in the May 13 agenda document.

Also in the agenda document are letters of support from Dickinson County, Great Plains Manufacturing, Dickinson County Economic Development Corporation, Central Kansas Free Fair, Abilene Convention and Visitors Bureau, Abilene School District, Midwest Concrete Materials, Rawhide Portable Corral and Golden Belt West Multifamily LLC.

Public comments

Jacque Berkley Webb said the roundabout option, one of three new intersection options the city first presented in February, that takes the most of residents' property out of the three intersection options, would take away about a third of her property.

Cassy Wilson with Rawhide Portable Corral said the city should not turn down this opportunity. She said specifically to Commissioner John Kollhoff, who is against that he should not forget about how the intersection affects current businesses and customers. She said the intersection needs updating.

"If we don't do something about this," Wilson said, "we are going backwards."

Greg Wilson voiced his support for the proposal of improving the existing intersection by widening the curves and adding turn lanes. He also did not like the idea of paying for sidewalks when people cannot walk safely across the Mud Creek bridge on NW 14th Street.

Kevin Everett said his business has driven trucks through the intersection for 45 years, and they have never had issues with the intersection. While he could understand widening the current intersection, he does not support building a roundabout.

"They (roundabouts) are hard for trucks to get around," Everett said. "Some of them end up on the curb. Some of the trucks are driving on the other side if it's not wide enough."

Fred Bailey, who lives next to the intersection and used to run a trucking company, said a man used to work for him who was originally from Maine. The man said in 2010 Maine was taking out their roundabouts. His business never had issues with the current intersection. Roundabouts are too small for 53-foot trailers. Lastly, he expressed concerns that car lights will shine into his home when driving around a roundabout.

"If you're going to do it, buy us out," Bailey said. "Don't try to make us enjoy the fact that you're going to put lights in our house where we have none. We have enough light as it is."

Commission comments

John Kollhoff spoke against reconstructing the intersection. Among his comments, he said the city should instead reconstruct the intersection at Fair Road and 2300 Avenue as trucks and vehicles will come off Interstate 70 onto Fair Road and to keep trucks away from Buckeye Avenue.

"If we are thinking big about where Abilene is going in its future, the last thing we want is a whole bunch of trucks going by my kids' middle school," Kollhoff said.

Since KDOT has stated the city cannot use the state's funds to simply improve the current intersection, Kollhoff stated the city should turn down the KDOT funds and pay for improvements themselves so as to take away as little as possible of residents' property.

Several members in the audience applauded after one of the times Kollhoff stated his desire to only improve the current intersection. Brandon Rein, mayor, hit his gavel to silence the crowd.

"Please stop doing that. I understand this is a touchy subject," Rein said. "This is not a question and answer period. We are having discussion amongst the commission now."

Kollhoff also challenged Olsson Engineering's roughly $3 million estimate of the design to improve the intersection. Mark Bachamp with Olsson said the estimate includes widening NW 14th Street beyond the curve to include turn lanes and eliminate the wings in the intersection. Essentially, the intersection would become a T-shaped intersection. No sidewalks were added to this design.

Bachamp added that KDOT is adding roundabouts across the state. Two in Riley County will be finished by 2025.

"The roundabouts are designed for trucks, and a four-way intersection is designed for trucks," Bachamp said.

During his comments, Rein said he is on the fence about the issue. He believes the city has to address the intersection because of the development happening to the west. He expressed his frustration that Dickinson County is limiting how much they will contribute to the project and did not communicate that limit before partnering with the city for this project. Rein also said he would not sign off on a final design that required taking away large portions of residents' property.

Trevor Witt, commissioner, acknowledged reconstructing the intersection is not a current need. The project, however, is addressing the goal of expanding Abilene's tax base. Adding sidewalks will connect Golden Belt Heights to the rest of the city, make the area more pedestrian safe, and also may aid the county to secure funding to rebuild the Mud Creek bridge whenever the bridge is in need. This project will also be more expensive in the future due to the nature of inflation.

"Since joining the commission, coming to understand how government works, is everything gets more expensive. How you deal with that is either you cut services, you either raise taxes, or you expand your tax base, and my preference in this role is to expand the tax base," Witt said.

Wendy Miller, commissioner, said she does not want to take away land from property owners. She is more in favor of a four-way stop than a roundabout.

Amy Meysenburg, commissioner, said she would not vote for a roundabout since almost everyone she has heard from does not want one built.

Commission actions

Witt moved that the city accept the KDOT funds for a roundabout with a design that minimizes inclusion of residents' property and is built for commercial truck traffic. The commission ended up voting 4-1 against the resolution. Witt was the only commissioner to vote yes. With that vote, the city would not accept the money from KDOT and possibly reapply to the cost share program with a design to just improve the current intersection.

Later in the meeting, Kollhoff convinced the commission to return to the issue. He proposed a resolution directing city staff to create a design concept that keeps the intersection's general form while meeting KDOT's specifications so the city can stay eligible for the cost share funds. The commission approved that resolution unanimously. The resolution did not address whether the city would accept the KDOT funds.

The Abilene City Commission will next meet at 4 p.m. May 28, the day after Memorial Day, in the Abilene Public Library.