By Chad Frey
Newton Kansan
Despite a split vote at the county level, a “Safe Streets For All” grant will move forward for the city of Newton.
In 2023 the county commission approved a partnership with the city of Newton for the grant, and later that year the city was noticed the project was approved for 80 percent funding. In January the Kansas Department of Transportation agreed a grant to pay the remaining 20 percent.
“That basically makes it without cost to the city or county for the study,” said county administrator Anthony Swartzendruber.
The grant will fund a study of several intersections to create a set of safety projects.
This week the county was asked to Approve the Safe Streets and Roads for All Planning Grant Agreement with the Kansas Department of Transportation and the City of Newton and authorize the Newton City Engineer to sign all associated paperwork and to send out a request for proposals.
But when it came time for the county commission to vote on the agreement on Sept. 3, one commissioner raised an objection.
“As I said in July of 2023 it seems to be a good plan to get some dollars into the city of Newton with the county support but I am just concerned with some of these rules and regulations may tie our hands in the future,” said commissioner Becky Reimer. “Because it is saying that we have to commit to zero road fatalities and road accidents. I don’t see that as being possible. … I don’t want it to harm the people of Harvey County so I will not be supporting it today.”
When pressed by other commissioners, Reimer pointed to specific language in the grant documentation that states that recipients must commit to setting a goal or zero fatality accidents or “an ambitious percentage reduction of roadway fatalities and serious injuries by a specific date with an eventual goal of eliminating roadway fatalities and serious injuries.”
The document she referred to does not lay out any penalties for not reaching the goal.
Following a motion by Don Schroeder, the commission voted 2-1 to approve the agreement.
After all grant agreements (State and Federal) are signed and received, the city will be putting out an RFP for consultant consideration to assist with the data collection, analysis, and action planning grant process. A committee will be formed to review proposals and select a consultant for this process.
The planning process intends to include Road Safety Audits, Intersection Analyses, and Corridor Analyses at the following locations:
o N. Main Street Corridor
o Washington/Kansas Street Corridor
o 12th Street Corridor
o Freeway interchange intersections
o Additional locations identified during the Action Plan Development (Including locations brought forward by citizens since hearing about the study).
Full agenda item and grant application documents (66 pages):