KDOT refines plans for roundabout
Bid-letting set for January 2006
By ROWENA PLETT
Staff writer
Officials of Kansas Department of Transportation met Monday in Marion to review a plan to establish a roundabout at the intersection of U.S.-50/77 at Florence.
Jim Herzet of Marion County Road Department, Joe Palic, KDOT area engineer, and Brice Goebel, KDOT construction engineer were among those in attendance.
Steve King, the KDOT official in charge of designing roads, presented a detailed overview of the plan. He said no additional right-of-way needs to be acquired for the project.
Bid-letting has been set for January 2006.
At the request of Florence officials, the plan calls for a fifth leg, which will re-route Eighth Street from just north of Kimball Street to the roundabout, as shown on the accompanying map.
Shoo-fly detours will be established on both highways to maintain through- traffic during the construction period. U.S.-77 will be rerouted around the east side of the intersection and U.S.-50 will be rerouted around the north. The shoo-flies will intersect east of U.S.-77 just south of 120th Street and will have a four-way stop.
After the roundabout is completed, the U.S.-77 shoo-fly will be dismantled, and the four-way stop will shift to U.S.-77 to allow completion of the east U.S.-50 and Eighth Street legs to be completed.
The plan also includes a realignment of 120th Street to connect to U.S.-77 at right angles. East of the highway, 120th will lead to a cul-de-sac, a dead-end turnaround, to give owners access to private property.
