MEDIA ADVISORY DATE: April 3, 2020

CONTACT: Bridgette Williams

Executive Director Heavy Constructors Association of Greater Kansas City

HEAVY CONSTRUCTORS SALUTE SIGNING OF EISENHOWER LEGACY TEN-YEAR TRANSPORTATION PLAN BY GOVERNOR LAURA KELLY, STATE OF KANSAS

Kansas Governor Laura Kelly is scheduled to sign SB 173 creating the ten-year Eisenhower Legacy Transportation Program today at 2:00 p.m. The Heavy Constructors Association of Greater Kansas City wishes to congratulate Governor Kelly and the Kansas Legislature on passage of the state’s fourth successive ten-year comprehensive transportation program dating back to 1989 following nearly two years of local consult meetings held throughout the State of Kansas, which also included meetings and recommendations of the state’s Joint Legislative Transportation Vision Task Force that met in 2018. Bridgette Williams, executive director of the Heavy Constructors was a member of that task force.

The Eisenhower Legacy Transportation Program is a ten-year, $10 billion commitment to all modes of transportation for Kansas: Investment in roads and highways, bridges, mass transit, aviation and rail are all included in this bill. Of critical importance to the ultimate success of the plan is the State’s commitment to keeping transportation dollars in transportation projects. During the course of the State’s last ten-year program, T-WORKS, more than $2 billion was diverted from KDOT to non-transportation expenditures. The first 18-months of the Eisenhower Legacy Transportation Program are committed to completing the unfinished work of T-WORKS and fulfilling the commitments made to the people of Kansas to address transportation needs.

Different from past transportation programs in Kansas, the Eisenhower Legacy Transportation Program will implement a rolling transportation program that will be perpetually reviewed, revised and updated as transportation needs of the state are evaluated, creating a pipeline of projects from development, engineering, design, right-of-way acquisition and ultimate greenlighting for construction. KDOT plans to continue the local consult process during the life of the program to constantly evaluate the transportation needs of the State and adjust where appropriate and as needed.

More than half of the projected spend will be devoted to preservation - $500 million a year or more. Each of the state’s 105 counties will see at least $8 million in transportation investment during the life of the program and spending will be allocated through KDOT-developed metrics to ensure spending will be spread across the state’s six transportation districts in an equitable manner.

The Eisenhower Legacy Transportation Program also includes provisions for the use of alternative delivery. Traditionally, major transportation projects were developed through a “design-bid-build” format, while alternative delivery allows project designers and contractors to work together to bring the best ideas into a project creating efficiencies and shorter construction timelines. The T-WORKS program allowed for a single alternative delivery project – the Gateway Project in Johnson County – which allowed the project to be completed a full year ahead of what a traditional bidding process would have achieved and Kansas gained a full 12% more work than the original project scope by contractors and engineers working together.

The Heavy Constructors supported KDOT Secretary Julie Lorenz’ efforts to include alternative delivery in the Eisenhower Legacy Transportation Program. Executive Director Bridgette Williams said, “The citizens of Kansas will greatly benefit from alternative delivery through cost-savings and project enhancements that will allow major projects, such as those proposed for US 69 Johnson County to be brought in at a lower cost and a full year ahead of a traditional “design-bid-build” format.

Under the legislation, alternative delivery can be utilized for up to three tolling projects over the life of the program, Federal projects including any that come from any stimulus spending that might be passed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and state projects of $100 million or more, not to exceed 5% of the total program over its ten-year period ($500 million +/-).

Williams also noted, “The State of Kansas has been a leader for more than three decades with its investment in transportation and public safety. The Heavy Constructors Association and its members look forward to working with the State and KDOT to deliver on the promises made to transportation users with this legislation and are appreciative of the opportunity to be a part of the efforts to craft, advocate for and ultimately pass this important legislation that will benefit both Kansans and those who utilize its transportation infrastructure.”