Riley County signs agreements to design Marlette Avenue reconstruction; county to fund majority of design cost

Riley County approved two agreements on March 6 to move the Marlette Avenue reconstruction project into the engineering and design phase. Public Works Director John Ellerman presented the project scope and said the county would share design costs with the City of Manhattan and hire a consultant to prepare construction drawings.

Project scope and features Ellerman described the project as a continuation of earlier Denison‑to‑Marlette work. Key features presented included: - A two‑lane section with a 10‑foot multi‑use trail on the south side from Denison to College Avenue, with left‑turn lanes and a review of right‑turn lane needs at College; - A three‑lane section between College Avenue and Browning intended to add left‑turn lanes into adjacent subdivisions and approaches; - The trail alignment would continue south on Browning and connect to First Street; the city requested an extension toward the Tetrax entrance on the west side of Browning for local connectivity.

Agreements approved Commissioners approved a city–county cost‑share agreement to split design costs for the county portion of Marlette Avenue; the packet showed a design cost of about $655,100, with the county…