By BECKY KISER
Hays Post
“Partnership” was the most-often used word by local, state and federal officials during a tour Friday afternoon of the Ellis County Northwest Business Corridor road improvement project.
Those riding on the two-hour bus tour, initiated by Rep. Barb Wasinger of Hays (R-111th Dist.), included numerous government and business representatives of Ellis County, Hays, and the state of Kansas, along with First Dist. Congressman Roger Marshall (R-Great Bend).
The corridor is north of Hays, defined as U.S. Highway 183 and Feedlot Road running two miles west to 230th Ave., then south two miles on 230th to Interstate-70 and the Highway 183 Bypass.
The plan calls for a paved 8-inch concrete road capable of handling large truck traffic and oversized loads.
Wasinger is a former Ellis County and Hays city commissioner. She’s very familiar with the concerns.
“I told him [interim Kansas Commerce Secretary David Toland] how important it was, how dangerous the road was and how much we needed the support of the governor and all the different divisions of the state,” Wasinger said after the tour. “It doesn’t take much to learn once you’re on that road how dangerous it is for these enormous vehicles to be going down there.”
The corridor carries a high percentage of large truck traffic with Midwest Energy’s Goodman Energy Center and Hess Services both located on 230th Avenue. The bus stopped at both facilities for quick guided tours.
Between the bypass exit and the entrance to Goodman Energy Center, the hills on 230th Avenue vary 67 feet in elevation.
Midwest Energy actually has a safety directive in place for when big contractor loads drive in and out of the Goodman driveway
“These are long trucks with 80-foot poles on them,” Bill Dowling, Midwest Energy Center Engineering and Energy Supply Vice President, told the tour group.
“We station a pickup up on the top of the hill with its flashers on in an attempt to slow down the traffic. The sight lines on that road are terrible,” Dowling said. “It is a bit of a risk every time you get on and off 230th.”
The traffic is often speeding and there are no shoulders along the road.
“When you go through these facilities, you see what commerce is and you see what’s important to Hays, Ellis County and all of northwest Kansas,” said Dustin Roths, Ellis County commissioner.
Hess Services currently has 355 employees and about 50 contractors working at its primary facility at 1789 230th. Co-owners and brothers Dan and Mark Hess told the tour they plan to expand their company if it can acquire the necessary infrastructure, including the corridor project.
Ellis County has already approved $800,000 for road improvements for the Northwest Business Corridor.
“When I got on the commission, this project looked vitally important to me,” Roths said. “We’re hoping we can find other people to make this happen.”
Roths heard a lot of comments about Hess from tour participants from outside of Hays who “couldn’t believe this exists in this part of the world.”
“Huge credit to Hess Services and their company, its growth and their vision. So now it’s time for us to do our part, in my opinion. It’s time for the government to do what it’s supposed to do which is provide that infrastructure so that they can continue to grow and thrive.”
Also on the tour were Kansas deputy Transportation Secretary Lindsey Douglas, state Sen. Rick Billinger of Goodland and Susan NeuPoth Cadoret, Business & Community Development Director for the Kansas Dept. of Commerce (KDC).
Admittedly, KDC doesn’t focus much on infrastructure in the state, but she “saw some really impressive job opportunities,” NeuPoth Cadoret said following the tour. “There’s also some potential for additional growth that’s coming so I can see the importance and the value of having this road hard-surfaced and completed.”
A private developer has approached the city of Hays in the past year about constructing a travel plaza at the intersection of 230th Ave. and 55th Street. There has also been discussion about potential housing and a commercial site just north of I-70 on the west side of 230th.
Wasinger said she has “accomplished the first step” in the road improvement plan “with collaboration and the help of everybody.”
“It just shows we all want to work together to take care of the needs of rural Kansas and Ellis County. The next step is to not let this excitement die.”
Those on the tour also included representatives from Fort Hays State University, Grow Hays, and the Northwest Kansas Economic Innovation Center.
According to information provided by Ellis County to tour participants, the Northwest Business Corridor improvements would cost $11,079.33. Additional improvements on 55th Street would increase the total to $15,734.862.