City awarded KDOT funds to assist with Maple Street improvements
Interim Independence City Manager Kelly Passauer announced today that the City will receive a nearly $1.6 million award from the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) to assist with improvements to a stretch of Maple Street from 17th Street west to Peter Pan Road.
The funding is part of KDOT’s Cost Share Program, which supports transportation-related projects and requires a percentage of matching investment by the local entity. The proposed Maple Street project is estimated to cost $2,635,452, she said, with KDOT providing $1,594,089 and the City matching at $1,041,363.
Passauer explained the project will include widening the street to 24 feet of driving surface from the Whiskey Street Bridge to Peter Pan and moving ditches away from the edge of the pavement; adding curb, gutter and storm sewer from 21st Street west to 28th Street; and milling and overlaying the street from 17th to just west of the Whiskey Creek Bridge.
This section of Maple Street is currently narrow and plagued by ruts, failing pavement and immediate deep ditches and requires nearly constant repair, Passauer said. She noted that with multiple heavy industries located along the street, as well as its function connecting south Independence with Walmart and Labette Health’s Independence Health Care Center, the street is highly traveled and improvements are critically needed to optimize safety and commercial operations.
“We are grateful to KDOT for this significant award, to the Independence City Commission for supporting the project and we look forward to getting the Maple Street project underway to make travel safer and more efficient for our citizens and businesses,” Passauer said. She also expressed appreciation to City Finance Director Lacey Lies for preparing and submitting the funding application in May, and to area business and community leaders who contributed to the application by submitting letters of support for the project.
The next step in the process is selection of a project consultant, which she said should be accomplished in August. After surveying, project design and bid letting, construction is anticipated to take approximately one year, from August 2021 to August 2022.
