By JONATHAN ZWEYGARDT
Hays Post
A construction project that was set to tear up 5 miles of blacktop south of Ellis has been put on hold after a large crowd of residents recently voiced their concerns.
At last Monday’s Ellis County Commission meeting, residents from Rush, Ness and Ellis counties packed the commission chambers to voice their displeasure with the county’s decision to turn the southern portion of Ellis Ave. from asphalt to a dirt road.
Many of those in attendance said they were only made aware of the county’s plans for the southern portion of the two-lane blacktop road that stretches from the city of Ellis to the Ellis/Rush county line through an announcement on social media and the county’s website.
Ellis County Public Works Director Brendan Mackay said during the 2021 commission road tour the commission decided that due to the condition of the road and the cost to fix it correctly they would tear up the asphalt and turn it into a dirt road. Rush County made a similar decision several years ago.
Mackay said the road has been under maintained for years.
“They've done lots of patching of the asphalt in the past (and) done some sealing to try and save it, but it's just too far gone.” Mackay said. “It needs total reconstruction.”
Due to a decline in the number of people who travel the road, previous commissions elected to turn the road back to a dirt road and Mackay said the commission reaffirmed the decision last April.
The plan was to start construction at Grants Villa Rd. and work south. Mackay said they estimated they could get between one and two miles of work done in 2022.
The base under the road needs to be rebuilt, according to Mackay, whether they elect to turn it into a dirt road or rebuild the asphalt road.
Mackay said there are also springs under the road that are causing issues. They may have to put down geotextile matting. Which will add to the cost of the repairs.
The cost to repair the road compared to the number of vehicles that travel the road every day, Mackay said just did not line up.
Mackay said they estimate it will cost about $1.13 million per mile to rebuild road. That does not include the cost of mobilization or removing the existing asphalt. That would bring the total cost of construction to approximately $6 million.
Commission Joe Leroux said that makes up approximately 10% of the county’s $29 million 2023 budget.”
“For a section of road that is one of the least used, least traveled sections in our county,” Leroux. “The harsh reality is that we have so much money to spread over so many miles (and) that’s one of the lesser used roads.”
The last traffic study conducted by the county, in 2018 before the pandemic, according to Mackay showed that on average approximately 100 vehicles travel that stretch of road every day. The Kansas Department of Transportation estimates nearly 180 vehicles utilize the road daily.
Mackay said the north portion of Ellis Ave. sees an average of 600 vehicles per day near Ellis and declines to about 250 at the Rooks countyline. Old Highway 40 sees between 1,700 and 1,250 between Hays and Ellis each day.
Dean Gottschalk, who lives on Ellis Ave., argued that the county should just a fix the portions of the road that is in need of repair.
Mackay said they do not have the road go back and forth between asphalt and dirt, instead they want to maintain what they have and meet up with the existing dirt road in Rush County.
Gottschalk complained about the timing of the potential construction due to school but agreed with Mackay when he pointed out that harvest is approaching and that will also make it inconvenient for farmers. Mackey said there is no go time for road work and that there will always be inconveniences.
Ellis County Commission Chair Butch Schlyer said, “We don't we don't have it in the plan to spend $5 million for five miles of road out there in the south part of Ellis Ave.”
Gottschalk said he believes the county should be able to find the money because of the tax revenue that it brings in and because, “100 lives per day” are using that road.
“I think it’s well worth the money,” Gottschalk said.
Schlyer said, “I just don't see it happening. You think we can just pull money out of our ass or something, and we don’t have it to do that.”
Ellis County has approximately 1,300 miles of road to maintain with 160 miles of hard surface roads. Mackay said they have a lack of funding to maintain the roads they have.
“Some parts are just too far gone,” Mackay said. “If we’re going to keep every road open, some reductions in services have to be there.”
He pointed out that several years ago a bridge east of Ellis was closed due to a lack of use and funding. It was 105 years old when it was closed.
Superintendent of Ellis Schools Janice Wilson asked the commission to table the discussion.
According to Wilson seven students in the Ellis School district are from McCraken and additional staff also travel the road to get to school in Ellis.
Parents who spoke at Monday’s commission claimed that the bus drivers in the Ellis School district were not aware of the scheduled work and coinciding road closure and the detour would take them several miles out of their way to get to school in Ellis.
After public comment had ended the commissioners went on with the meeting without announcing any changes to the construction plans.
But at the end of the meeting Commissioner Neil Younger brought up the issue again and asked his fellow commissioners what the future plans were for the road.
Some people in the audience, who did not address the mic and shouted out from the back of the room, asked that the commission leave the road as it is.
When asked if leaving it as is and fixing the really bad area was an option Mackay said, “Where do we stop?”
He said there are more than just four or five spots that need fixed.
Gottschalk and another audience volunteered rock for the project but Mackay said the asphalt is the expensive part of the project.
Mackay also said just patching the holes, as some in the audience suggested, “is not going to last.”
The commission and County Administrator Darin Myers asked Mackay to put together three options to present the commission at the Oct. 11th commission meeting and delay construction on the project.