Finney County approves $2 million KDOT agreement for Northwest Industrial Park; nearby business urges access redesign

The Finney County Board of Commissioners approved an agreement with the Kansas Department of Transportation on the Northwest Industrial Park improvement project, accepting $2,000,000 in KDOT Economic Development Program funds for construction of roadway improvements.

The funding will cover construction costs only; county staff and participating stakeholders will be responsible for preliminary and construction engineering and any construction costs that exceed the $2 million award. Mackenzie Phillips, Finney County development and administrative coordinator, told commissioners the county anticipates construction costs could exceed the KDOT award and that stakeholders and the county will share overages.

Why it matters: The project will relocate and realign Solar Avenue and Acker Way, convert Solar Avenue to a one-way roadway, reconstruct Acker Way and build a new road from U.S. Highway 83 to serve a future truck wash, an existing TA travel stop and an RV park. The changes are intended to support industrial and freight traffic in the northwest quadrant of the county.

During public comment, Drew Terrell, construction project manager for Bruckner’s Truck and Equipment of Amarillo, told commissioners the firm supports moving solar infrastructure onto private property and the overall development, but strongly opposes routing all facility traffic through a new Acker Way exit that would abut Bruckner’s warehouse overhead door. “We have lots of truck trucks backing in, backing out, moving around,” Terrell said, and argued that routing all exit traffic through the proposed driveway would create a “roadblock” when a semi is loading or unloading at the door. He said his facility was designed to function like a county yard—public access in front, secured operations behind a fence—and that the planned driveway would create safety, security and operational problems.

County administrators said they are coordinating with stakeholders and engineers to reduce the county’s share of any overage. The interim county administrator told the board that an existing economic development incentive fund—into which both the city and county have previously contributed—has about $900,000 available and the city has already approved use of that fund to cover the county’s share up to an estimated $425,000.

Commission action: The commission voted to approve and sign the KDOT economic development program agreement as presented. Commissioners discussed that participating stakeholders are expected to carry a proportionate share of cost overages; county staff and engineers said the county’s portion is currently estimated in the mid-hundreds of thousands of dollars but could change when bids are final.

What’s next: Staff will finalize the contract paperwork with KDOT and continue coordination with project engineers, the city, and private stakeholders on cost allocation and the local road grid design. Bruckner’s representatives said they will continue to work with county staff and their engineers to seek a solution that preserves the facility’s operational access and security.

Ending: The commission approved the KDOT agreement after county counsel confirmed the documents were in proper form and after commissioners discussed funding sources and stakeholder responsibilities for over-age costs.