By Trish Svoboda/Image courtesy Canva
Governor Laura Kelly announced that more than $8.77 million in federal funding will support 13 projects aimed at improving safety on rural Kansas roads. The funding comes through the Kansas Department of Transportation’s High Risk Rural Roads (HRRR) Program.
Nearly $1.4 million in local matching funds will also contribute to the projects. This year, KDOT selected 13 projects from 32 applications that requested a total of $28.2 million in federal funding.
“More than 50% of Kansas’ fatal and serious injury crashes happen on the local road system,” said Secretary of the Kansas Department of Transportation Calvin Reed. “The High Risk Rural Roads Program targets funding where it will have the most impact in reducing roadway fatality and serious injury crashes.”
HRRR projects fall into two categories: systemic, which address safety across a broader local roadway network, and site-specific, which target individual locations.
Projects and award amounts include:
| County | Category | Amount Awarded | County Match | Description of Project |
| Douglas | Site Specific | $250,000 | $22,000 | Guard rail replacement at N 950 Road and East 550 Road |
| Grant | Site Specific | $945,000 | $233,000 | Add 2-inch asphalt widening and pavement marking on Road 21 from K-25 east 4.5 miles |
| Kearny | Systemic | $420,000 | N/A | Upgrade signing on all major collectors and paved minor collectors |
| Lyon | Systemic | $620,000 | N/A | Upgrade signing on all paved county roads |
| Montgomery | Site Specific | $1,575,000 | $260,000 | Add 3-inch asphalt widening and pavement marking on Buckeye Road from 1450 to the Oklahoma state line |
| Osage | Site Specific | $640,000 | $157,000 | Extend the culvert and widen the pavement on Auburn Road between 109th and 117th streets |
| Osborne | Systemic | $365,000 | N/A | Upgrade signing on all major and minor collectors north of U.S. 24 and west of U.S. 281 |
| Ottawa | Site Specific | $1,210,000 | $287,905 | Add asphalt widening and flatten slopes |
| Pawnee | Site Specific | $905,000 | $160,000 | Add 1-inch aggregate shoulders and improve slopes |
| Saline | Site Specific | $340,000 | $91,000 | Replace guard rail and pavement marking on South Kip Road from K-4 to East Country Club Road |
| Smith | Systemic | $480,000 | N/A | Upgrade signing on all major and minor collectors south of U.S. 36 |
| Sumner | Site Specific | $570,000 | $159,000 | Replace guard rail and pavement marking on Oliver Road from U.S. 166 to the Sedgwick County line |
| Trego | Systemic | $450,000 | N/A | Upgrade signing on all rural local roads south of MCS9808 and west of U.S. 281 |
