Roundabout construction to begin
Construction soon will begin on a roundabout on U.S.-77 near Florence.
According to Joe Palic of Kansas Department of Transportation, Marion field office, contractors will begin work on the roundabout Monday with completion anticipated by Sept. 29.
Temporary detours will be built to take traffic around the construction site.
All construction work on U.S.-77 has a completion date of Sept. 29 or before.
The project began in March 2005, when U.S.-77 was closed for reconstruction from U.S.-56/K-150, northeast of Marion, to U.S.-77/U.S.-50 intersection near Florence, about a nine-mile stretch.
Since that time, the old highway has been removed and reconstruction of a super two-lane has commenced.
A roundabout was designed to be placed at the U.S.-77/U.S.-50 near Florence intersection for safety reasons. Numerous lives have been lost at that intersection. A four-way stop was installed after the last double fatality in July 2003, with a promise from KDOT of a permanent solution of a roundabout.
The single-lane roundabout will require motorists on U.S.-50 and U.S.-77 to reduce speed and maneuver a circular intersection. This method of controlling dangerous intersections has proven to be successful.
Venture Corporation of Great Bend is general contractor for the highway project. LeFarge North America, Inc., of Wichita (formerly Ritchie Corp.), is the general contractor for the roundabout project.
The original contracts were $11,514,748 for the highway and $2,968,612 for the roundabout.
