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Finney County OKs $600,000 HRRR safety project on Old 83 with rumble strips and widened shoulders
Summary
The commission approved programming for a High Risk Rural Roads project on Old 83 that will add centerline rumble strips, aggregate shoulders and improved signage. Engineers said rumble strips can slightly shorten pavement life but substantially improve safety; county will pay design costs and 10% of construction.
Finney County commissioners approved a federal High Risk Rural Roads (HRRR) programming request to improve safety on Old 83, accepting the project into the state’s FFY 2027 HRRR program with an awarded construction amount of $600,000.
Mackenzie Phillips, development and administrative coordinator, summarized the application and told commissioners the program covers construction and construction engineering; the county is responsible for all preliminary engineering and 10% of construction and construction engineering costs. Phillips said the project aims to install centerline rumble strips, retroreflective pavement markings and markers, 18-inch aggregate shoulders, additional high-intensity signage and flattening/widening of four slopes.
Why it matters: County engineers said countermeasures funded by HRRR—especially centerline rumble strips and widened shoulders—have strong safety benefits for rural roads with a history of severe crashes. John Riggins and C.W. Harper of Kirk & Michael, serving as acting county engineers, told the commission rumble strips remove a small amount of surface seal along the center joint and can accelerate wear in that location, but they carry a high safety rating among available countermeasures. Riggins noted that Old 83 showed two “K and A” crashes (killed or disabling injury) in the five-year heat-map analysis used for the local road safety plan.
Cost and local responsibility: Phillips said the HRRR award is $600,000. Commissioners and staff discussed local costs: preliminary engineering and design are not covered by the state award and were estimated on the application at roughly $55,000. Commissioners observed the county’s local share for construction could be approximately $56,000 under the 90/10 structure; staff cautioned final local costs will depend on bids and design decisions.
Commission action: After discussion and questions from commissioners about pavement impacts and program competitiveness, the board moved and seconded the programming request and voted to accept the HRRR award and authorize staff to proceed. Phillips noted that 29 applications were submitted statewide and KDOT funded 11 projects this cycle; declining the award now could mean the county drops to the bottom of the list for future cycles.
Supporting details: The project scope was selected because Old 83 had a recent mill-and-overlay and growing adjacent residential development; staff said the HRRR-eligible improvements focus on visibility and run-off-the-road prevention rather than full reconstruction.
Ending: Commissioners approved the programming request and directed staff to proceed with preliminary engineering and design work while pursuing the HRRR construction funding.
