City, state leaders praise advancement of $43M North Campus Corridor project
- AJ Dome ajdome@themercury.com
This artist rendering from the city of Manhattan shows what Kimball Avenue will look like next to Bill Snyder Family Stadium after the $4 million street renovation project is completed late next year. The street will be widened and a landscaped median will be installed where the street curves.
Courtesy image
Local and state leaders are praising the advancement of a construction project that will expand streets and other infrastructure along Kimball Avenue.
Construction will close Kimball for about a year and complicate traffic patterns to the football stadium for the rest of the season.
Officials with the Manhattan city government, K-State, and the Kansas Department of Transportation had a reception at the Shamrock Zone in Bramlage Coliseum Thursday to tout the progress of the North Campus Corridor project and provide the approximately 50 people in attendance with an update on how the project will advance.
Manhattan residents will see this project materialize along Kimball Avenue between Denison and North Manhattan avenues.
That stretch of Kimball will be shut down starting Monday, lasting through at least August 2022, as part of a $4 million 10th phase of the corridor project.
That $4 million comes from an economic development grant from KDOT. City of Manhattan public information officer Vivienne Uccello said this phase involves the “total reconstruction” of the street, storm drainage system, and sidewalks. Kimball Avenue will be widened, and a raised landscaped median will be placed in between the east and westbound lanes where the roadway curves.
KDOT secretary and director of the Kansas Turnpike Authority Julie Lorenz said these improvements will “create a community atmosphere” that promotes economic growth and safety.
“There’s a nice focus here on safety, as well as moving people in a comfortable sort of way,” Lorenz said.
“Transportation is about roads and bridges, but it’s about so much more… when you think about transportation investments, it’s really about building the place, the Kansas, that people want to live.”
City officials said that stretch of Kimball Avenue carries more than 20,000 vehicles daily, and it’s part of what university leaders call the Edge Collaboration District, which includes the K-State Biosecurity Research Institute, the College of Veterinary Medicine, and the USDA National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF).
In total, the North Campus Corridor project will cost about $43 million. Manhattan Mayor Wynn Butler said he is pleased that the project will be funded through “a combination of revenue sources with contributions from the city, county, KSU athletics, State of Kansas grants, economic development funds, and the City University fund.”
K-State President Richard Myers said this project will reinforce the university’s “resolve to be a leader in research and talent development.”
“Our combined assets and expertise have earned K-State the reputation of the Silicon Valley for global food, health, and biodefense,” Myers said.
“This infrastructure improvement enhances safety and creates a dynamic environment for future growth.”
K-State Athletic Director Gene Taylor said the project has “already made a drastic improvement from an aesthetics perspective.”
President and CEO of the KSU Foundation Greg Willems said the construction project and the Edge Collaboration District serves “as a way to move beyond a geographical name and make clear our intention to become a premier industry-serving research university in the Midwest.”
“With modernized infrastructure, we are well positioned to bring meaningful economic outcomes to Manhattan, the state of Kansas, and beyond,” Willems said.
The multi-use trail in that area will also be closed during construction. Improvements to traffic signals, pedestrian walkways, and bicycle trails are also part of the project.
Bayer Construction of Riley County is estimating that the Kimball Avenue project will be fully completed by December 2022.
Work began on the corridor project in 2017, with the final phase expected to be completed by 2024.
