KDOT secretary outlines IKE program progress, funding pressure and major bridge projects; committee introduces two bills

Kansas Department of Transportation Secretary Calvin Reid told the Committee on Transportation on Friday that the agency has made measurable progress under the Eisenhower Legacy Transportation (IKE) program while facing cost and revenue pressures that will shape project choices for the remainder of the decade.

"Transportation is a very big part of our state's fabric," Secretary Calvin Reid said, describing IKE as a 10-year, multi-modal program initially estimated at about $10,000,000,000 and emphasizing preservation as the program's top priority.

Reid framed several immediate and long-range challenges for lawmakers and local officials. He said construction prices are roughly 60% higher than 2020 levels and about 40% higher than what KDOT projected in 2020, creating a funding gap even though some revenue lines — notably sales tax transfers and discretionary federal grants — have outperformed original estimates.

The secretary said motor fuels tax revenue has been essentially flat for two decades and now funds a Special City and County Highway Fund by statutory formula. He also noted that vehicle registration surcharges for electric vehicles are directed to the State Highway Fund rather than the city/county fund. Reid said KDOT and the legislature will need to consider funding options and that the agency is pursuing federal discretionary grants — including awards from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act — and using bonding as a cash-flow tool.

On safety, Reid highlighted the Drive to 0 coalition and its public dashboard. He said Kansas recorded 347 highway fatalities in 2024 — "the lowest number of highway fatalities in the state of Kansas since records were kept in 1947" — while cautioning the figure is subject to revision as trauma reports continue to be collected. Reid said the Drive to 0 partnership includes highway design, emergency response and law-enforcement partners and that the coalition supports legislative proposals such as a revised "move over" law to protect disabled vehicles.

Reid described KDOT's asset-management work, including a statewide lidar scan of the state highway system to inventory signs, striping and other assets and to improve project-level decisions. He also stressed Kansas' unusually high bridge burden per capita: the state has roughly 5,000 bridges and, he said, "we are number 1 per capita in the country in number of bridges per people," citing a county example where one county has roughly one bridge per 10 people.

Large projects and regional priorities named during the briefing included the I-135 canal-route corridor in Wichita — an elevated structure above a flood canal — that Reid estimated will require at least a $1,000,000,000 investment when replacement is needed in roughly 15–20 years; the Polk-Quincy Viaduct (I-70 through Topeka), which Reid said will be replaced beginning within months; the Wichita North Junction and a K-96 Northeast bypass expansion around Wichita; and the Centennial Bridge over the Missouri River near Leavenworth, a project KDOT said is being advanced in partnership with Missouri and local stakeholders.

Reid summarized IKE performance to date: about $2,800,000,000 spent on preservation projects as of December, targeted county-level spending intended to reach at least $8,000,000 in each of Kansas' 105 counties (a statutory target in the IKE program), and a rolling two‑year local consult process KDOT uses to prioritize regionally significant modernization/expansion projects. He said the program has treated thousands of lane miles and addressed several hundred bridges but that some districts remain behind mid‑program targets and KDOT expects additional lettings to close gaps.

On program mechanics, Reid described a three-stage project pipeline: regional input and scoring; development (design, surveying, right-of-way); and construction (when funding and local commitment, including matching funds, are in place). He said projects do not become firm construction commitments until they enter the construction pipeline.

Reid listed KDOT staff members present and available as legislative contacts, and encouraged members to attend the agency's regional consult meetings this fall. He also said KDOT will present additional detail at upcoming committee briefings, including a Monday session with the Division of Motor Vehicles and a Drive to 0 presentation by coalition director Vanessa Spartan.

Votes at a glance

Two bill introductions were recorded at the meeting. The chair asked for objections and none were raised; both measures were entered as introduced.

- RS 0706 — described in the meeting as a digital ID bill introduced "on behalf of a constituent of representing Moshers." No mover/second, roll-call or tally was recorded; the chair announced the bill as introduced after noting no opposition was observed.

- RS 0705 — introduced near the end of the session "on behalf of Representative Rogers" to create a Future Farmers of America license plate. No mover/second or roll-call tally was recorded; the chair announced the bill as introduced after noting no objection.

What the committee took away

Members pressed KDOT on where fatalities occur (rural roads versus state highways versus interstates), and Reid said the Drive to 0 dashboard — a public tool KDOT launched — contains route- and cause-level breakdowns and that staff will provide the dashboard to the committee. Several members asked for details about causes of crashes and whether legislative changes such as hands‑free rules or move-over law adjustments might reduce fatalities; Reid said the coalition and staff will bring more specific proposals to the group.

Members also asked about the Wichita canal-route study, public engagement in neighborhoods near the corridor, Centennial Bridge funding and the use of lidar data (Reid said the lidar scan is a one‑time statewide capture used for asset inventory, not for speed enforcement). The secretary said KDOT is actively pursuing discretionary federal grants where appropriate, cited a roughly $300,000,000 Olathe/I-35 interchange package that combined local and federal funds, and said the agency plans to bond roughly $400,000,000 this year as part of program cash flow.

Reid closed by urging lawmakers to continue engagement on funding decisions for the second half of IKE and on the design of any successor program after 2030.

Ending

The committee scheduled a Monday briefing from the Division of Motor Vehicles and a Drive to 0 presentation by Vanessa Spartan. The chair reopened the agenda only to take the single additional bill introduction and then adjourned for the weekend.