EudoraNews.com

Eudora city officials are hoping that state money will get Eudora a new K-10 exit and improve the city's two existing K-10 interchanges.

Officials have pleaded their case, and now it's up to the state on how it chooses to spend more than a billion dollars tabbed for transportation over the next decade.

The city has asked for state aid to complete three interchange-related projects, which combined, would cost an estimated $3.3 million.

The projects on the city's wish list are building exit and entrance ramps to K-10 off Winchester Road, widening the County Road1061 overpass to include a pedestrian walkway and turn lanes, and expanding the County Road 442 interchange in the event that the Wonderful World of Oz theme park someday gets built.

Eudora competes with Wichita, Topeka, and the Kansas City metropolitan area cities for the same funds the state has allotted to improve urban state highways in the next 10 years.

However, Eudora's smaller size will not disqualify it because its projects are comparably cheaper, said Kansas Lt. Gov. Gary Sherrer.

"It doesn't hurt them," he said. "We do a cost benefit analysis, so if I invest a dollar and get $2 back, it doesn't matter how big the project is."

Although the Legislature has decided to spend $1billion over the next 10 years on highway projects statewide, the state still expects to be able to fund about 30 projects and has 143 qualified applications.

The Kansas Department of Transportation will base 80 percent of its decision on objective criteria such as the area's traffic count and accident rates. How much the project will help an area's economy will compose the other 20 percent.

Eudora City Engineer Matt Taylor, Mayor Fred Stewart and City Councilmember Rex Burkhardt argued for the Eudora interchange projects before a nine-member economic assessment panel last month.

Taylor presented graphs, aerial maps of the city and general city growth statistics. In the last nine years, the assessed valuation of the city has tripled, from $6.6 million to $20.7 million, Taylor said.

Sherrer, who heads the state panel, said he liked Eudora's presentation.

"I personally liked it because it was straightforward, very honest. It didn't overstate the case, but still got the need across," Sherrer said.

Besides the increased business a Winchester Road exit off K-10 would bring, a new exit also would ease traffic for all the new homes springing up on Eudora's western edge and encourage new developments.

"I think further development in western Eudora is going to depend on an easy way out of town," said Eudora Councilmember Willene Blackburn. As is, all western Eudora homeowners must move down a single arterial street, she said.

"If you need to go to work at the same time kids are going to school, it's very congested." Blackburn.

Another important need, she said, is the addition of a pedestrian walkway to County Road 1061 so that school children living south of K-10 could safely cross the highway,

"That's probably No. 1 for the city because that's a safety issue," Blackburn said.

KDOT will announce aid recipients this summer, said Stan Whitley, KDOT information specialist. If Eudora makes the list, the city will still need to come up with 20 to 25 percent of the cost, Taylor said.