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 covering roughly 75 percent because most work is on county right of way. The commission also approved a professional services agreement with the consultant (Venish/Venice consulting in the packet) to perform the design work.

Why it matters: Ellerman said the project advances county‑city corridor planning and provides pedestrian and bicycle accommodations on a corridor that has seen past investment. Commissioners asked about funding for the trail portions inside city limits and about right‑of‑way, traffic and how design phases would be billed and staged.

Votes and next steps Two motions approved the county–city cost share agreement and the design contract with the consultant. Ellerman said the project will proceed in phases and that more detailed cost estimates will be available as the design advances; construction cost estimates will follow the engineering phase.

Speakers - John Ellerman — Public Works Director, Riley County (presented the project) - Commissioners (moved/seconded and approved agreements)

Authorities - Professional services contract (design) — contract approved with consultant (referenced_by: ["marlette-avenue-reconstruction"]).

Actions - motion: "Approve the city–county agreement for cost share on design services for Marlette Avenue reconstruction project." mover: not specified second: not specified vote_record: [ {"member":"Commissioner","vote":"yes"},{"member":"Commissioner","vote":"yes"},{"member":"Commissioner","vote":"yes"} ] tally:{"yes":3} outcome: "approved" - motion: "Approve the agreement with Venish (consultant) for design services on the Marlette Avenue reconstruction project (design cost ~$655,100)." mover: not specified second: not specified vote_record: [ {"member":"Commissioner","vote":"yes"},{"member":"Commissioner","vote":"yes"},{"member":"Commissioner","vote":"yes"} ] tally:{"yes":3} outcome: "approved"

Clarifying details - Design cost shown in packet: approximately $655,100 (cost share split 25% city / 75% county for the design contract portion shown). - Trail width presented: 10‑foot multi‑use trail alongside selected segments.

Provenance - topicintro: {"block_id":"block_1771.99","local_start":0,"local_end":160,"evidence_excerpt":"Good morning, commission. Corey Meyer, ITGIS director here for staff update about some projects..." ,"reason_code":"topicintro"} - topfinish: {"block_id":"block_11248.34","local_start":0,"local_end":200,"evidence_excerpt":"And moved and seconded to approve the agreement with Venice with the design services on Marlette Avenue reconstruction project. All in favor of my my thank you.","reason_code":"topicfinish"}

searchable_tags":["roads","infrastructure","Marlette Avenue","design contract"],"salience":{"overall":0.52,"overall_justification":"County is funding design of a corridor reconstruction project that extends prior county/city work and includes trail and turn‑lane elements; project moves to design contract and cost sharing was approved.","impact_scope":"local","impact_scope_justification":"Affects traffic, pedestrian connectivity and capital projects for county/city.","attention_level":"medium","attention_level_justification":"Important for local transportation planning and budgets; design costs approved, construction pending."},"topics":[{"name":"transportation","justification":"Road reconstruction and trail additions are transportation infrastructure matters.","scoring":{"topic_relevance":0.97,"depth_score":0.6,"opinionatedness":0.02,"controversy":0.2,"civic_salience":0.7,"impactfulness":0.5,"geo_relevance":1.00}}],