By NICK BUDD
Hays Post
An open house discussion for stakeholders, property owners and other community members was held Tuesday night at City Hall to discuss the upcoming renovation of 13th street from Main Street to Milner in Hays. John Braun, assistant director of public works, and Buck Driggs, project manager from the Driggs Design Group, explain the proposed project and answered questions about the project.
The 13th street corridor was considered as a priority improvement project in 2011 when the city conducted a pavement condition survey throughout the city of Hays.
“Out of all of the hundreds of miles of streets that we have in the city, it was ranked No. 6 as a priority to get improved,” Braun said. “The pavement is bad and then (compounded by) the amount of traffic and because it’s an arterial road, it was ranked high.”
Braun also mentioned it was one of the bike routes identified in the 2011 comprehensive plan.
Because of these factors, the city considered 13th Street as the “next big” street reconstruction project. The city allocated $1.5 million for the project and hired Driggs Design Group to come up with concepts and explore options for the corridor.
After various studies, Driggs Design Group offered its proposal at Tuesday’s open house, a plan that would repave the street and rebuild curbs and sidewalks, minus the brick intersection at Main Street. It also includes a 5-foot bike lane adjacent to the street. Another concept would extend the sidewalk to accompany the bike lane. Water lines and meters also would be included in the project, although those improvements would come from a separate fund.
“We have several other concepts that we’ve put together, and we’re still working through all the details. We’re really focused on getting the project to the $1.5 million number,” Driggs said. “We’re realizing through the analysis that we’ve done that $1.5 million is only really going to replace the pavement, so we’re pretty much focusing on options that do that.”
The city plans on looking at other options at its March 20 Hays City Commission meeting and hopes to begin construction in 2015.