Qualifying for KDOT Access Management Funding

As areas experience economic growth, they often discover they need to make changes to their existing roadways. Systems that once worked may no longer be effective. To help with access management, KDOT is now taking a proactive approach. They are encouraging cities and counties to put an access management plan in place with the introduction of new funding opportunities.

To take advantage of the state reimbursement program, applicants must first hire a consultant to create a full access management plan. Projects like these typically include public meetings, the creation of plans with proposed solutions, and detailed analysis. Once a plan is in place, applicants must have each of the following items ready to be eligible for funding:

• An executed agreement as part of the KDOT Corridor Management Plan, KDOT Access Management Plan, Area Transportation Plan, or KDOT Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).
• A proposed project that implements recommendations of their plan. Projects outside of its scope are not eligible.
• Documentation showing separate funding has been secured for preliminary engineering, right-of-way acquisitions, utility relocations, permits, and construction engineering.

If all these things are in place, the next step is to complete and submit an application. If accepted, KDOT will fund the construction phase of selected projects at 100 percent, up to a maximum of $2,000,000. That being said, the following items must be covered by the city or county: preliminary engineering, right-of-way acquisitions, utility relocations, permits, and construction engineering.

Case Study: US-59, Parsons, Kansas
We have completed two access management plans, but wanted to focus on our recent work with Parsons, Kansas. The city has plans to develop a new hotel and conference center, which would increase traffic on their roadways. They’d made some changes to thoroughfares and streets over the years, but understood they needed to make larger changes to support their continued growth.

When we started work with Parsons, we knew they wanted to consider how they would evolve and develop over the next few years. We created several concepts with input from the community. For this project, we:

• Held public meetings.
• Conducted an analysis of the area.
• Created a matrix showing each suggested improvement, along with details on when it might take place, as well as the associated trigger for the change.
• Considered ways to improve safety.
• Consolidated access.
• Suggested improvements to curbs and school crossings to boost safety.

The city is proceeding with a couple of projects from the US-59 Access Management Plans. The first project includes enhancements around the proposed hotel and conference center site that will not only improve access as new development occurs, but will also maintain the efficiency of the highway. The other project will signalize an intersection to reduce the risk of right angle crashes and improve the performance of the intersection.

To learn more about KDOT access management funding, contact us at info@affinis.us.