By Roger McKinney

rmckinney@joplinglobe.com

COLUMBUS, Kan. — Officials with the Kansas Department of Transportation met Monday with public officials and some residents about the beginning phase of a study aimed at improving Kansas Highway 7.

The study will involve 11 miles between Columbus and Cherokee. The road is narrow and has no shoulders.

Roseland resident Mary Pomatto, 84, said she has lived along Highway 7 all her life, and that improvements are long overdue. She said that when she sees school buses and large trucks traveling side by side on the highway, there is virtually no space between them. She said one of her friends was struck and killed several years ago after having a flat tire on the highway.

Engineer Howard Lubliner said the discovery phase of the study will determine a preferred alignment of the highway. In answering a question, Lubliner said that if the highway can be rebuilt on its current alignment, that could speed the project along. He said KDOT knows the location of old mines under Highway 7 in its current location.

“We’re going to be in uncharted territory” if the highway is moved, he said. He said dealing with mine-related construction issues can be very expensive.

“This is going to be an extremely challenging piece,” Lubliner said.

He said options for detouring traffic during construction are another challenge.

Lubliner said the discovery phase of the study should be complete sometime in September. He said preliminary engineering then would take two to three years. He said there is funding for that, but not for construction. The department has allocated $150,000 for the study.

Girard Mayor Maurice Harley, who was among the 30 or so people who attended the meeting, said he works in Columbus. Because of that, he travels the route twice a day, five days a week. He asked how towns can cooperate to raise the priority of the project, so it can be funded when funding is available.

“It’s a regional problem,” Harley said. “It affects all of us.”

State Rep. Doug Gatewood, of Columbus, suggested that Girard adopt a resolution supporting the project, as many towns and the Cherokee County Commission have done.

Gatewood had a concern shared by others at the meeting: If a Highway 69 bypass is built, the traffic would move to Highway 7 with or without it being designated as a detour.

George Dockery, KDOT area engineer, said complications along the route include former surface mines or strip pits, businesses, railroad crossings and landfills.