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Commissioners raise drainage and access concerns on airport access road; direct staff to coordinate with designers and KDOT
Summary
County officials discussed Cook Flat design plans for the airport access road (phase 1 and 2), flagged a potentially undersized 24-inch culvert and concerns about tying a new entrance into Twentieth Road, and asked staff to get more drainage analysis and coordinate with KDOT and the project engineer.
During an update on airport access-road construction, Coffey County commissioners pressed engineers and staff to revisit drainage and access details in the Cook Flat design for phase 1 and phase 2 of the project.
Road & Bridge Superintendent Ryan Durst and commissioners said a 24-inch culvert shown on the Phase 2 plans likely is undersized for the roughly 5 acres of drainage area and recommended increasing the culvert capacity (for example, to a double 24-inch pipe) to accommodate current runoff and potential future development. Durst said he asked the design team to provide drainage calculations and consider upsizing the pipe.
Commissioners also discussed how and when the access road should tie into Twentieth Road. Staff and KDOT participants said a permanent tie-in and turn-lane improvements may not be necessary now and that a construction-access entrance could be used in the short term; the board asked that any construction entrance requests be routed to county staff for review. Commissioners expressed concern about premature paving or hardening of an entrance that might later require reconstruction when Twentieth Road is upgraded.
County staff said they had met with Cook Flat and with KDOT area engineers; KDOT requested a drainage study and additional information about how ditch and roadway drainage will affect state right of way. Staff recommended holding off on completing that portion of Phase 2 (the permanent tie-in and paving at Twentieth Road) until drainage calculations are completed and until a coordinated plan for Twentieth Road is developed.
The board directed staff to ensure the county’s on-site engineer and KDOT receive updated drainage plans and to require the design team to re-evaluate the culvert size and the timing of any permanent connection to Twentieth Road. No formal vote was required; the exchange was a staff direction and design review.
Commissioners also asked that project contacts (Cook Flat, KDOT, the county’s on-site engineers) include Road & Bridge staff in routine communications and that staff report back with revised plans and any cost implications before the board approves changes that would affect county-maintained roads.
