PITTSBURG, Kan. — The city commission sought the public’s input tonight (Tuesday) regarding the bypass project on 69 Highway.
It’s something that’s been talked about since the late 90s and offers various options to lessen traffic in the Pittsburg area.
The main purpose is to widen the highway from two lanes to four all the way to Kansas City.
But K-DOT officials say there are still plenty of decisions to be made.
“The last update that was made to an environmental investment study, or anything else like that was 2012, so clearly there is some updating that needs to be done and we heard from community members that they want to know more,” said Vanessa Lamoreaux, KDOT senior director.
“What a new freeway will do is take truck traffic from I44, from Gardner-Edgerton, off our existing bypass. It’s a busy city street, it’s too busy now,” said Kevin Mitchelson, president of US Highway 69 Association.
“We talked about 300 pieces of land, homes, and a few businesses that they would have to buy in order to build the Western Bypass. Nothing like that would be affected by this middle route,” said Dan Muter, a citizen of Pittsburg.
K-DOT officials will continue to visit local commission meetings across the affected areas until a resolution is found.
Beyond that, there is no timetable.
