Funding for road projects has been reduced to $1 million, down from $10 million a year in times of greater prosperity.

Now neighborhood projects have been delayed and even maintenance has been reduced. What budget restriction means to you:

Monticello Road south project largest project delayed

Beginning in 2007, city manager Carol Gonzales says budget constraints started affecting the city. Today, the city is operating on a $57 million budget, about the same as it was in 2006.

As a result of budget constraints, no new road projects are on the city’s Capitol Improvement Program or CIP, which is updated every year outlining six years into the future.

Senior project engineer Paul Lindstrom said the Monticello Road south of Shawnee Mission Parkway project was the biggest projected delayed by the city.

The project, delayed in summer 2009, was planned to expand to a three-lane road with bikes lanes making it the width of a standard four-lane road.

To date, over $3 million of an estimated $15 million total cost has been spent on the project. Expansion of the road was discussed to ensure sufficient traffic flow in the future.

“If it’s going to need to be a four-lane some day, we’re going to do it now,” Gonzales said of the decision surrounding the project.

Since beginning construction, two houses were bought by the city and $2 million was spent on temporary easements, which allow the city to work on a resident’s property, and right of way agreements, which purchase land the future road will occupy. An eight inch gas pipeline as well as the hilly landscape of the road presented unique problems to road construction.

Monticello Road south resident Bob Hamlett had approximately 2,500 square feet of property bought by the city in both temporary easements and right of way agreements.

“Some improvements are necessary because this road is far too narrow but a wide double lane would have served the same purpose and preserved the front yard property area,” Hamlett said. “The steps they’ve taken now can best be described as destruction.”

Construction of the road placed two-thirds of Hamlett’s driveway in limbo, and resulted in the removal of five trees on his property. Temporary installment of telephone poles and guy-wires has also resulted after beginning the project.

Temporary easements like the one on the Hamlett’s property expired in 2010. Postponement means that the money on the temporary easements will have to be re-spent when construction resumes sometime in the future.

City council member Michelle Distler, who was the only city council member to vote against the project from the beginning, says signs of economic downturn were evident when project construction began.

“We saw that the economy and budget was going that way,” Distler said. “I was thinking ‘Why are we even looking at that?’ We’ve spent $3.5 million and we got a road in a worse condition than when we started.”

Now road projects have been postponed

“We just don’t have any major street plans in the six-year plan,” Gonzales said. “We can’t take on that and have money to pay for basic services, everything has slowed down.”

Monticello Road north of Shawnee Mission Parkway has also been indefinitely postponed. The design for the road would cost the city $250,000 and included a turn lane north of the high school and a widening on the bridge by Monticello Trails Middle School. The project was postponed in 2009.

Expansion of Johnson Drive to Midland Drive, Shawnee Mission Parkway to Pflumm Road, Woodland Road south to 83rd Street and street improvements and re-designs of Midland Drive and Claire and Gleason roads are all similar area projects that have been taken off the Capitol improvement Plan.

Lindstrom is concerned that postponement will halt development in the city.

“A lot of developers won’t be doing improvement until we get those streets in,” Lindstrom said. “Infrastructure goes bad and it’s hard to catch up on streets that haven’t had maintenance. We are going to play catch up.”

Maintenance also slows as a result of funding

In addition to forcing project delays, budget constraints have impacted road maintenance and repair.

In times of better economic outlook, the city devoted $5 million to road repair. In 2011, the city committed $750,000 to the same cause.

To rank necessary repairs, the city ranks roads on a one to 10 basis, one being the worst and 10 being the best. Gonzales says roads only ranked at a 6 or below are being addressed rather than roads ranked at a 7 or 8.

“We’re just trying to do the best we can with what’s coming in,” Gonzales said. “Our goal is to have a small government and do what we can for a while.”

In addition to many delayed projects, a few major projects are also coming to a close in 2011.

The K-7 interchange, for which the city paid $450,000 out of $26 million to fund, is set to be completed in August 2011 and Silverheel Road, off Johnson Drive, near the K-7 construction received roundabouts connecting the surrounding area.

Gonzales hopes the budget won’t hurt the community.

“My desire is for it to be a high quality and wonderful place to be and you don’t want to see your community deteriorate,” Gonzales said.

 Roadwork facts:

-The 2011 city budget is about the same as in 2006 at $57 million.

-Funding for road projects is around $1 million compared to $10 million in times of greater prosperity.

-Funding for road repair and maintenance is at $750,000, down from $5 million.

 Monticello Road south of Shawnee Mission Parkway  

-The most costly project is Monticello Road south of Shawnee Mission Parkway with the city spending over $3 million so far.

-Two houses were knocked down and $2 million was spent in purchasing temporary easements and right-of-way agreements for the project.

-The project was postponed in 2009.

 Monticello Road north of Shawnee Mission Parkway 

-Design for the road was finalized and included a turn lane north of the high school and a widening of the bridge by Monticello Trails Middle School.

-The project would cost $250,000 but before beginning construction was postponed in 2009.

Expansion of Johnson Drive to Midland Drive, Shawnee Mission Parkway to Pflumm Road, Woodland Road south to 83rd Street and street improvements and re-designs of Midland Drive and Claire and Gleason roads are all similar area projects that have been taken off the Capitol improvement Plan.