Public Works director reports on roads, bridges and a scheduled US-56 corridor open house; board approves a maintenance promotion

David Monenblest, McPherson County Public Works director, briefed the board on June 23 about personnel changes, upcoming construction and planning items affecting county roads and bridges.

Monenblest requested promotion of Barry Sisson from Maintenance Worker 3 to Maintenance Worker 4; the board approved the personnel change by voice vote. He told commissioners the promotion will leave one Maintenance Worker 4 vacancy that the department plans to backfill by promoting from within and hiring at lower levels.

Monenblest gave multiple operational updates: crews continue shouldering and pavement repairs; a small bridge field check was rescheduled for Friday; the county expects bridge inspection work to cost about $150,000 per year (proposal evaluation in progress); and APAC is scheduled to mill 20th Street soon and repave. He said Cherokee Road would be widened by about a foot on each side (projected width increase from about 22 to 24 feet, to be confirmed), and the department is coordinating detours and a memorandum of understanding with Enterprise Pipeline for a major project on old U.S. 81 that will require truck detours and local circulation changes.

Monenblest also said he and Emergency Management attended a US-56 corridor study and that open houses are planned July 22 (McPherson) and July 23; the study’s recommendations could include wider shoulders, passing lanes, bridge widening and safety improvements at intersections. He warned that passing lanes require careful siting and may reduce township access points where they are installed.

The director asked the board about scheduling a road tour to review county projects; commissioners discussed meeting dates and the next work session scheduling.

The board approved the promotion; other items were updates and no board votes on specific projects were taken at the June 23 meeting.