Davids Brings Over $500 Million to Kansas for Roads and Bridges, Applauds Advancement of 4 Projects in the Third District Due to Federal Funds
Representative Sharice Davids applauded the U.S. Department of Transportation's announcement that Kansas will receive $500,636,086 from the bipartisan infrastructure law to create good-paying jobs for Kansans improving roads and bridges across the state. This is the first round of funding under the five years of federal investment in Kansas highways authorized by this new law.
With this new federal funding, the Kansas Department of Transportation and Governor Laura Kelly announced four projects in the Third District are being moved into the development pipeline of the 10-year Eisenhower Legacy Transportation Program (IKE). This follows KDOT's announcement that the US 69/167th Interchange in southern Johnson County will be added to the current US 69 expansion project due to the new federal funding from the Davids-backed infrastructure law. The newly-announced projects include:
- I-35 Johnson County: Old US-56 to 119th Street
- I-35 Johnson County: I-35/Sante Fe interchange in Olathe
- K-10 Johnson County: K-7 to I-435
- I-435 Wyandotte County: I-435/State Avenue interchange just north of I-70
"It's great to see these bipartisan infrastructure law investments start to roll in, and even better to see them already put to work creating jobs and advancing projects that our communities have been asking for—from expanding the 167th Interchange on US 69 to reducing congestion on a high-traffic portion of I-35," said Davids. "The Kansas Third is home to vital trucking and shipping logistics industries, and we're growing fast—so we need to be sure our roads and bridges are ready to enable, not hinder, that growth."
The funds, administered by the Federal-aid Highway Program, can be used for the construction, reconstruction or improvement of eligible highways and bridges . As Davids shared in her "State of our Systems: Bridges" report, over 700 bridges in the Kansas Third District are in need of repairs. With this funding – and more to come – the bipartisan infrastructure law will create good-paying union jobs to strengthen Kansas' roads and bridges.
Davids previously announced the bipartisan infrastructure law is bringing more than $13 million for airports in the Third District and $79 million for water infrastructure across Kansas in fiscal year 2022. She serves as the Vice Chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and was "in the thick of the infrastructure bill from the start."