By KARI BLURTON
Hays Post

At Thursday’s Hays City Commission work session, city staff asked commissioners to consider approving a contract by the Kansas Department of Transportation to build the 22-mile bike path throughout the community.

Assistant City Manager Paul Briseno said the contract calls for the state to pay 60 percent of the $1 million project, with the city funding the remaining 40 percent from its special parks program. He said the project will not be paid with by higher property taxes or higher sales tax dollars, but by the city’s current alcohol tax.

Briseno said the  realization of the Bike Hays project is a long time coming.

“The community of Hays will have another quality-of-life amenity … something that has been long desired since the 1990s,” Briseno said, noting the city’s previous comprehensive plan also called for a city wide bike route.

If commissioners approve the bid at next week’s city commission meeting, work on the bike path is scheduled to begin March 1.