The city of Spring Hill continues its long-term planning for an estimated $4 million in improvements along 223rd Street between Harrison, Webster Streets and Victory Road, which include two roundabouts.
City Engineer Alysen Abel and Senior Traffic Engineer Jay Aber with HDR, a global architecture, engineering, environmental and construction firm, presented the final concept designs at the Spring Hill City Council meeting Jan. 8.
These improvements are a part of the city’s Capital Improvement Plan — so even with the concept designs completed, Abel said funding likely won’t be secured until 3 to 5 years from now.
“This (planning improvements to 223rd Street) was on the heels of our Safe Streets for All, or SS4A, safety action plan that we had just completed,” Abel said. “We took a lot of our safety countermeasures from that study and implemented it here. You’ll see a lot of that included in our design.”
The plan is to add two roundabouts just east of U.S. Highway 169 on 223rd Street — one at the Harrison and Webster streets intersection and a second at Victory Road. Safety improvements include high-visibility crosswalks, raised medians and sidewalks. Eventually, the sidewalks would connect with other parts of the city’s pedestrian system, including new trail systems.
Additionally, the concept design plans dig into traffic data to ensure the changes both improve safety and accommodate traffic needs.
“The objectives of this are just to reduce the speeds along the corridor, improve pedestrian safety and enhance that intersection safety,” Aber said.
The city had previously looked into adding stoplights or realigning Webster Street, but they weren’t optimal solutions, said Mayor Joe Berkey.
“KDOT (Kansas Department of Transportation) didn’t like the idea of a stoplight there, being that close to the highway,” Berkey said.
Right now, the plans are very high level — there’s still a lot of work to be done before the project is ready for final city council consideration, Abel said.
East of US-169 and west of US-69
On top of the potential roundabouts, the city council voted 5-0 to enter into an agreement with Miami County Jan. 8 night to pursue a street planning study for the stretch of 223rd Street between U.S. Highway 169 and U.S. Highway 69.
“There’s a lot going on there,” Abel said. “We wanted to put together a planning study that made the most sense so that we could look at each segment along this 9-mile stretch of roadway to figure out what’s in the best interest.”
A completed study would help the city and county prioritize projects along 223rd Street and make the projects more competitive for future grant funding.
In total, the planning study is expected to cost about $1.5 million. The city is seeking grant funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation and Kansas Infrastructure Hub. The BUILD Planning grant program would cover about 80% of the planning study, leaving the city and Miami County to cover the remaining $300,000. The entities would split the cost for $150,000 each.
Additionally, the city council voted 5-0 to hire HDR to help build the grant application for $50,000. Abel said she’s seeking additional grant funding to cover HDR’s assistance.
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