By: NICOLAS FIERRO
Salina Post
Construction work for road upgrades taking place near the Schwan's Pizza Plant is nearing completion.
According to the City of Salina, the construction work is part of a project meant to improve the roads along Centennial road, the intersections of Schilling and Arnold, as well as airport terminal upgrades. Some of the improvements along the Centennial road portion, is the addition of widening the road, with two driving lanes (north and south) and a turning lane to help facilitate traffic going in and out of the Schwan's Pizza Plant.
Apart of this project, is the extension of the sidewalk along Centennial near Schwan's.
Additionally, other improvements will include a crosswalk for the Schwan's employees.
Three phases are required to complete this project. Phase 1 consisted of the Arnold road improvements, along with completing the Schilling intersections and upgrades to the airport terminal. Phase 2 involved the construction of Arnold from Scanlan to Centennial. The final phase is where the project is at currently, which is the construction work along Centennial Rd.
Accordingly, the project costs were a total $4,696,000 million. The City received a grant from the US Economic Development Administration (EDA) totaling $3,756,800. The City of Salina contributed matching funds of $939,200.
City of Salina staff stated the purpose of this project is to enable better traffic flow and have safer usage of the roadways. Reportedly, city staff experienced various occurrences of traffic disruption before the project.
City staff stated the project has been prolonged, due to the recent weather activity of heavy rainfall.
City staff is expecting construction to be fully completed by October of this year.