Practical Highway Design Solutions (2013)

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75 Appendix H excerpt from 2011 decade Report, Kansas dOT 2001-2010 A decade of projects, progress and engagement

76 S Transportation needs and wants will al- ways outpace available resources, so KDOT must do all it can to get the most from its investment. During the challenging eco- nomic times of the past decade, KDOT developed a new project design approach that allows the agency to maximize the cost-bene fi t ratio of transportation invest- ments. The new approach – called practical im- provement – gives engineers and others the fl exibility to use lower-cost alternatives to the full-scale complement of improve- ments that had been the standard in earlier years. A few examples of cost-savings measures KDOT teams now consider include: Narrowing the footprint of projects on the drawing board, thereby reducing the amount of right of way to be purchased. Identifying less-expensive means of maintaining traf- fi c fl ow through construction zones. Narrowing paved shoulder-width (which reduces both construction and mainte- nance costs). Construction of passing lanes. Practical improvement is used successfully in several other states, including Missouri, Wyoming, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and in just a few years, KDOT has had its own practical improvement successes. Travelers and residents of Hodgeman County had long expressed concern about Practical Improvement “Freeways and super-2s are nice, but we’re very happy to have these (practical) improvements, and we would welcome more improvements like this.” – Bart Briggs, Gove County Commissioner Before improvements were made along K-156, a sloping dirt shoulder didn’t allow motorists adequate room to pull off of the highway. | T R O P E R E D A C E D 1 1 0 2 | N O I T A T R O P S N A R T F O T N E M T R A P E D S A S N A K 12

77 S K-156 over the lack of shoulders, some steep drop-offs from the driving lanes and a perception that the highway was too nar- row. In 2008, using a practical improve- ment approach, KDOT built 12-foot driving lanes, added one-to-three feet of asphalt outside the white edge line and ground rumble strips into the lines. The improve- ments on the low-traf fi c highway provided some of the safety bene fi ts of a standard shoulder without the cost of buying addi- tional right of way to build a full shoulder. As a result, more miles of the road were improved. In 2010, the same approach was taken on a similar preservation project on K-23 in Gove County. Using practical improve- ment standards, KDOT was able to stretch the dollars allocated to Kansas under the American Reinvestment and Rehabilita- tion Act. Local leaders praised KDOT’s use of practical improvement. “Freeways and super-2s (two-lane roads built to higher standards) are nice, but we’re very happy to have these (practical) improvements, and we would welcome more improve- ments like this,” said Gove County Com- missioner Bart Briggs. Practical improvement can’t be used on every road modernization project. But engineers in Kansas and elsewhere know that less expensive projects, without the full package of improve- ments, will free more money to improve more miles of the state highway system. $59 million More than $59 million is expected in practical improvement savings by 2012 | T R O P E R E D A C E D 1 1 0 2 | N O I T A T R O P S N A R T F O T N E M T R A P E D S A S N A K 13 After improvements along K-156 in Hodgeman County, the bene fi ts include a wider shoulder, rumble strips and a gentler side slope.