U.S. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx will meet with Shawnee County officials Wednesday morning to discuss the decaying Willard Bridge, according to U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran’s office.
The senator’s office said Monday that Moran arranged the meeting to take advantage of the transportation secretary’s rare visit to Kansas. Foxx and Moran are scheduled to take part in a roundtable forum with aviation industry stakeholders Wednesday afternoon in the Wichita suburb of Park City.
Few details of the secretary’s visit to Topeka have been released. The U.S. Department of Transportation confirmed Foxx will be in Kansas on Wednesday but offered no specifics.
"I am aware and appreciative of the invitation to meet with Secretary Foxx," Shawnee County Commissioner Shelly Buhler, a Rossville resident and staunch proponent of urgently replacing the bridge, said in email Monday night. "At this time all information and details including time and location which are yet to be confirmed, are being handled through Senator Moran's Office."
Foxx’s visit to Shawnee County comes at an auspicious time as the county competes with other municipalities across the country for a Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery, or TIGER, grant to replace the Willard Bridge.
The county has been forced to repeatedly lower the weight limit on the bridge in northwest Shawnee County. The bridge’s sufficiency rating, which measures a bridge’s fitness on a 0-100 scale, was above 61 until 2012. In 2013 it dropped to 50.7. In January, it was measured at 23.7.
Replacing the bridge is expected to cost about $24.4 million. If the county obtains a $16.7 TIGER grant, the county will use an expected $6 million surplus from a half-cent sales tax and about $1 million from Wabaunsee County to cover the difference.
With public angst building in Rossville and Silver Lake, communities connected to the rest of the county by the bridge, the county commission in February sent letters to Moran, U.S. Rep. Lynn Jenkins and U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts requesting their help in obtaining federal assistance. Five days later, during a March 3 hearing in the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, Moran pressed Foxx for details on how Shawnee County could find funding to replace the bridge.
“At this point, the bridge over the Kansas River is no longer structurally sound enough for school buses to ride over that bridge,” Moran, a Republican, said in the hearing. “It’s a significant disruption of commerce and agriculture — not to mention public safety.”
“Senator, unfortunately, I’m not proud to say that this is a problem that I’ve seen in many, many parts of the country,” Foxx responded.
Foxx told the senator that TIGER grant funding “may be a potential source for this work.” On that same day, Moran invited Foxx to Kansas, according to the senator’s office.
The TIGER grant program, established in 2009, isn’t popular among some Republicans who favor giving more money to states and oppose allowing the federal government to choose which projects are funded. In June, the U.S. House passed an appropriations bill that would slash TIGER grant funding from its current level of $500 million annually to $100 million.
Jenkins, a Republican representing Shawnee County, has said she supports the county’s efforts to seek federal funding for the bridge but voted in favor of the House legislation cutting TIGER grants. The proposed cut to the TIGER grant program wouldn’t affect Shawnee County’s current grant application.
Foxx, a Democrat and the former mayor of Charlotte, N.C., took over the position of transportation secretary last July with unanimous approval in the Senate. During the Senate hearing, Foxx told Moran that most federal transportation funding is given directly to states and state governments should look inward when questioning why they don’t have enough money.
“I think one question is, what other choices is the state DOT making?” Foxx said.
The question is especially relevant in Kansas, where lawmakers have frequently diverted funds from the Kansas Department of Transportation’s T-Works highway construction fund to fill revenue shortfalls. On July 30, KDOT announced it would hand over $8 million to help cover Gov. Sam Brownback’s $62.6 million in budget adjustments.
The transportation industry coalition Economic Lifelines estimates $2.1 billion has been diverted from T-Works since it was established in 2010, earning T-Works the nickname Bank of KDOT among the governor’s critics.
The senator’s office said Monday that Moran arranged the meeting to take advantage of the transportation secretary’s rare visit to Kansas. Foxx and Moran are scheduled to take part in a roundtable forum with aviation industry stakeholders Wednesday afternoon in the Wichita suburb of Park City.
Few details of the secretary’s visit to Topeka have been released. The U.S. Department of Transportation confirmed Foxx will be in Kansas on Wednesday but offered no specifics.
"I am aware and appreciative of the invitation to meet with Secretary Foxx," Shawnee County Commissioner Shelly Buhler, a Rossville resident and staunch proponent of urgently replacing the bridge, said in email Monday night. "At this time all information and details including time and location which are yet to be confirmed, are being handled through Senator Moran's Office."
Foxx’s visit to Shawnee County comes at an auspicious time as the county competes with other municipalities across the country for a Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery, or TIGER, grant to replace the Willard Bridge.
The county has been forced to repeatedly lower the weight limit on the bridge in northwest Shawnee County. The bridge’s sufficiency rating, which measures a bridge’s fitness on a 0-100 scale, was above 61 until 2012. In 2013 it dropped to 50.7. In January, it was measured at 23.7.
Replacing the bridge is expected to cost about $24.4 million. If the county obtains a $16.7 TIGER grant, the county will use an expected $6 million surplus from a half-cent sales tax and about $1 million from Wabaunsee County to cover the difference.
With public angst building in Rossville and Silver Lake, communities connected to the rest of the county by the bridge, the county commission in February sent letters to Moran, U.S. Rep. Lynn Jenkins and U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts requesting their help in obtaining federal assistance. Five days later, during a March 3 hearing in the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, Moran pressed Foxx for details on how Shawnee County could find funding to replace the bridge.
“At this point, the bridge over the Kansas River is no longer structurally sound enough for school buses to ride over that bridge,” Moran, a Republican, said in the hearing. “It’s a significant disruption of commerce and agriculture — not to mention public safety.”
“Senator, unfortunately, I’m not proud to say that this is a problem that I’ve seen in many, many parts of the country,” Foxx responded.
Foxx told the senator that TIGER grant funding “may be a potential source for this work.” On that same day, Moran invited Foxx to Kansas, according to the senator’s office.
The TIGER grant program, established in 2009, isn’t popular among some Republicans who favor giving more money to states and oppose allowing the federal government to choose which projects are funded. In June, the U.S. House passed an appropriations bill that would slash TIGER grant funding from its current level of $500 million annually to $100 million.
Jenkins, a Republican representing Shawnee County, has said she supports the county’s efforts to seek federal funding for the bridge but voted in favor of the House legislation cutting TIGER grants. The proposed cut to the TIGER grant program wouldn’t affect Shawnee County’s current grant application.
Foxx, a Democrat and the former mayor of Charlotte, N.C., took over the position of transportation secretary last July with unanimous approval in the Senate. During the Senate hearing, Foxx told Moran that most federal transportation funding is given directly to states and state governments should look inward when questioning why they don’t have enough money.
“I think one question is, what other choices is the state DOT making?” Foxx said.
The question is especially relevant in Kansas, where lawmakers have frequently diverted funds from the Kansas Department of Transportation’s T-Works highway construction fund to fill revenue shortfalls. On July 30, KDOT announced it would hand over $8 million to help cover Gov. Sam Brownback’s $62.6 million in budget adjustments.
The transportation industry coalition Economic Lifelines estimates $2.1 billion has been diverted from T-Works since it was established in 2010, earning T-Works the nickname Bank of KDOT among the governor’s critics.
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