Governor Kelly Announces $6.65M for Rural Road Safety Improvements

TOPEKA – Governor Laura Kelly today announced that $6.65 million in federal funds will go to 10 rural projects to increase the safety and efficiency of local roadways. The effort is part of the Kansas Department of Transportation’s High Risk Rural Roads (HRRR) Program.

The HRRR program is federally funded through the Highway Safety Improvement Program and is designed to improve rural road safety. An additional $2.37 million in local funds will be used for the selected projects. This year’s 10 HRRR projects were selected from 46 applications seeking $40.5 million in federal funds.

“Data shows more than 60% of fatal and serious injury crashes occur on county-owned roads and highways,” said Kansas Transportation Secretary Calvin Reed. “These funds assist our rural partners to increase roadway safety by using low-cost and proven countermeasures.”

Projects in this program fall into one of two categories: Systemic (encompassing a local roadway network) or Site Specific.

The selected projects are in Southwest Kansas are:

Haskell County Systemic $270,000 awarded to Upgrade signing on all minor collectors in the county.

Seward County Site Specific $775,00 awarded with a $202,000 County match to Extend four culverts, flatten the fore slopes, and install 1.5-inch shoulders on Road I north of Road 16.