Memorandum

City of Lawrence

Municipal Services & Operations

TO:	Tom Markus, City Manager
CC:	Scott McCullough, Director of Planning & Development Services Brandon McGuire, Assistant to the City Manager Chuck Soules, Assistant Director of Municipal Services & Operations
FROM:	Jessica Mortinger, Transportation Planning Manager David Cronin, City Engineer
DATE:	February 26, 2019
RE:	Report of the Joint Legislative Transportation Vision Task Force to the 2019 Kansas Legislature and Next Steps

Background

A State Joint Legislative Transportation Vision Task Force was established in 2018 with the following mission:

· Evaluate the progress of the 2010 Transportation Works for Kansas program to date;

· Evaluate the current system condition of the state transportation system, including roads and bridges;

· Evaluate current uses of the state highway fund dollars, including fund transfers for other purposes outside of infrastructure improvements;

· Identify additional necessary transportation projects, especially projects with a direct effect on the economic health of the state of Kansas and its residents;

· Make recommendations regarding the needs of the transportation system over the next ten years and beyond;

· Make recommendations on the future structure of the state highway fund as it relates to maintaining the state infrastructure system; and

· Make and submit reports to the legislature concerning all such work and recommendations of the task force. All such reports shall be submitted to the Legislature on or before January 31, 2019.

The Task Force heard testimony from jurisdictions. In a memo dated October 19, 2018, staff provided the testimony the City and County planned to provide. The following support was expressed:

• Support for State spending on transportation programs and projects.
• Support for project selection based on safety, operations, and economic impacts.
• Summary of how State programs have impacted the local system (Dave Cronin and Keith Browning).
• Summary of how the South Lawrence Trafficway has impacted the local economy and how finishing the west leg should be a priority given the increased traffic from the recently completed west leg (Jonathan Marburger).
• Summary of economic impacts directly related to transportation investments (Matthew Herbert).

Report

In January 2019, the Joint Legislative Transportation Vision Task Force report was released. The report can be found online at: http://www.kslegresearch.org/KLRD-web/Publications/CommitteeReports/2018CommitteeReports/jt_leg_trnsprtn_vision_tf-cr.pdf

Next Steps

Since the report was presented, Governor Laura Kelly joined Kansas Secretary of Transportation Julie Lorenz to announce the Kansas Department of Transportation’s (KDOT) plans to invest $160 million in revenue that is included in the Governor’s FY 2020 budget for transportation. These investments are aligned with recommendations from the Joint Legislative Transportation Vision Task Force. A press release and flyer describing the action plan for Moving Kansas Forward can be found at

http://www.ksdot.org/Assets/wwwksdotorg/Headquarters/PDF_Files/pressrelease2019/TaskForceNewsRelease.pdf

The next steps, at a high level, include:

1. Move Task Force recommendations Forward Using Governor’s Budget

2. Long Range Plan:  Identify Needs & Projected Funding to Determine the Gap

3. Collaborate to Prioritize Needs & Craft Program

4. New Program Should Achieve the Following

a. Strong support across Kansas.

b. A right-sized approach to addressing transportation needs.

c. Policies and strategies that position Kansas well in the future.