🎥 Intersection enhancements to help new journey plaza, Northwest Enterprise Hall

Improvements to the intersection of 230th Ave. and 55th Street will enhance the development of a new trucking yard and Ellis County’s Northwest Business Corridor. Crossing work is expected to begin in May and be completed in September.

BY BECKY KISER
Hays Post

An important phase in the development of improved traffic flow on the north-west side of Hays will begin next month.

City commissioners approved a contract Thursday night to improve the intersection of 230th Avenue and 55th Street north of Exit 157 of Interstate 70.

Hess Services of Hays’ low bid of $ 1,878,301, which was below the engineer’s estimate, was just $ 9,100 below the next lower bid from Smoky Hill Construction, Salina. The civil engineering contract with Driggs Design, Hays, priced at $ 140,800, puts the total cost of the project at $ 2 million.

At the request of Ellis County, the city assumed responsibility for a US $ 1.5 million economic development grant from the Kansas Department of Transportation for the project in December 2019.

The improvement work is paid for with the KDOT grant.

The $ 500,000 surplus is paid for by the developer of the Hays Truck Plaza, D&J Land and Development LLC. A new rest area is being built north of the intersection.

All project costs are reimbursed to the city through the KDOT grant and the truck stop developer.

Ellis County’s proposed Northwest Business Corridor will move tractor-trailer traffic and oversized cargoes around the west side of Hays rather than through the center of town.

The intersection is on the southwestern edge of the Ellis County Northwest Business Corridor project, which will improve the width and surface condition of two county roads along a four-mile stretch north and west of Hays. The north / south section is 230th Avenue.

The busy hilly avenue passes several heavy industrial sites, the Goodman Energy Center, the Celebration Community Church, and private homes.

Junction improvements include grading, sidewalks, curbs and gutters, storm sewers, sidewalks and lane markings, according to Hays project manager John Braun.

Hess Services has contracted the subcontractor Morgan Brothers, LaCrosse, to pave the concrete, while Hess will do the earthwork and storm sewer improvement.

Mayor Sandy Jacobs asked if the intersection needed to be closed during the works, which are expected to take 120 days.

The project is “done in three phases and they are finding ways to work around it,” said Braun.

“It’s mainly because of the elevation changes. They smooth the hills and elevate the valleys. The difference between trying to build half of it and keeping a lane open and safe, and the amount of space it would take … would be simple not possible. So they actually have to shut down entire sections at once and find ways to bypass them. “

The commissioners also approved four low commandments as recommended by Jeff Crispin, director of water resources:

* $ 119,000 from Integrity Municipal Systems, Poway, Calif. For a replacement lime cutter used to soften city water
* $ 94,705 from Foley Power Solutions, Topeka, for two portable generators, one each for water harvesting and water reclamation
* $ 108,937 from Pipe Detectives, Jamestown, ND, for easy cleaning and video inspection of 22 miles of sewer service
* $ 65,246 from Downey Drilling, Lexington, Neb., For rehabilitation of four municipal water wells and two Smoky Hill River wells near Nice

The following Jacobs-recommended nominations for volunteer committee members have been approved:

The financial statements of March 2021 presented by Kim Rupp, CFO, were accepted and a license for muesli malt beverages for the Hays Kiwanis Club was approved for the Wild West Festival in July.

The commissioners recently heard a progress report from the city departments from Collin Bielser, the deputy city administrator.