City of Hays says 13th St. widening project is safe

By BECKY KISER
Hays Mail

During a work session Thursday, Hays city officials questioned the safety of shortening the route of the East 13th Street widening project.

Commissioner Shaun Musil asked Public Works Director Jesse Rohr if the increase in traffic near the newly constructed Hays High and Middle Schools is a cause for concern.

The entire project involves the reconstruction of 13th Street between Canterbury Drive and Commerce Parkway.

The street was originally planned to be widened to three lanes from Canterbury to Commerce, but the only bid for the project came in $500,000 over budget.

The project, funded by a $489 Hays County reserve fund and a grant from the Kansas Department of Transportation, was scaled back slightly and a new bid was announced.

APAC-Kansas, Hays, was again the sole bidder and won the smaller-scale project for $3.03 million.

The widening will now extend from Anthony Drive to Tallgrass Drive, and the easternmost end of 13th will remain two lanes to Commerce Parkway. An unnecessary box culvert improvement was also eliminated. That gave the city’s share of the project $2.26 million, $60,843 under budget.

“We really don’t have any concerns (about traffic),” Rohr told Musil, “especially since the intersection of 13th and Commerce already has three lanes of traffic running north and south. … The east side will be widened to three lanes to have a dedicated left-turn lane.”

“We hope people will find a better way to get to schools than 13th and Canterbury, and we will promote that.”

City work includes rebuilding the road from Anthony Drive to Commerce Parkway, widening sections of East 13th Street from two to three lanes, installing a multi-use path along the north side of the entire project and milling and resurfacing the entire roadway.

The $489 investment is for adding two right-turn lanes, crosswalks and traffic signal upgrades at the intersection of 13th Street and Canterbury. The investment cost is $763,000.

The new high school is scheduled to open in August 2025, and the current high school, just to the west, will then be renovated and converted into the new high school.

Commissioners also discussed financing for the 27th and Main Street development project. Astra Bank is moving and building a new facility on the site.

The City will cover 100% of the cost to construct stormwater management infrastructure on the south end of the property and 50% of the cost to extend 26th Street through the development site.

The $89,000 for stormwater retention infrastructure will come from stormwater reserve funds, and 50% of the city’s share of the $205,000 for the street will come from the city’s capital reserve funds.

Musil asked Rohr whether the new development would worsen flooding problems on 25th and 24th Streets at Main and Main Street Terrace.

“The retention infrastructure controls the rate at which water leaves the property, and it can’t be any faster than it is now,” Rohr said.

The high-rise and water retention engineering in the area also takes into account the potential development of residential construction and a shopping centre.

The new bank will be accessible from 26th Street.

The City of Hays purchased the 1100 Fort Astra Bank building to renovate it into a new police station and municipal courthouse.

The commission discussed an ordinance that would establish a Reinvestment Housing Incentive District (RHID) and adopt a plan for the development of housing and public facilities at the intersection of 10th and Walnut Streets.

Hays developer Michael Graham Rentals is proposing to build 48 apartments on the site of the former train station car park in central Hays.

The district is expected to generate about $1.1 million in revenue over a maximum 25-year period. That revenue will be used to reimburse the developer for an estimated $692,000 in RHID-eligible project costs on a pay-per-use basis. Collin Bielser, deputy city manager, said the RHID is expected to pay for itself in less than 25 years.

The committee also discussed funding for another development project in the Hays center.

The Kansas Department of Commerce awarded the city a $300,000 Commercial Community Development and Revitalization Grant on behalf of developer Adam Pray of the Chestnut Suites at 1108 N. Main and Hays.

The former Hays State Bank building, where the $3.2 million project will take place, was built in 1965 and has been vacant for 40 years.

Pray plans to redevelop the building into a new luxury short-term Airbnb rental called Chestnut Suites with 24 to 26 rooms. The rooms will be designed similar to those in traditional hotels.

Financing proposals for all four development projects will be voted on at a city commission meeting on September 26.

City Manager Toby Dougherty was absent from the work session.