FORT SCOTT, Kan. — Gov. Laura Kelly visited Fort Scott on Wednesday, where she announced that 34 cities statewide will receive a total of $28.65 million for improvements to the State Highway System located within city boundaries. The grants include more than $6 million for five cities in Southeast Kansas.
The funds will be directed to preserve and improve pavement, add turn lanes, and modify intersections along essential roadways in both rural and urban areas throughout the state, and will be administered through the Kansas Department of Transportation’s City Connecting Link Improvement Program (CCLIP). CCLIO is a component of the state’s bipartisan transportation program, IKE, passed under the Kelly administration.
“By making this investment, we're improving the safety and accessibility of Kansas roadways that are local centers of community life,” Gov. Laura Kelly said. “Through these grants, we’re delivering economic opportunities throughout rural and urban Kansas.”
Gov. Kelly and Transportation Secretary Julie Lorenz announced the CCLIP awards in Fort Scott, where $1.5 million in CCLIP funds will be directed to improvements on U.S. 54, also known as Wall Street. Other grant recipients in Southeast Kansas include Baxter Springs, which will receive $1 million for improvements to US-69A, Independence, which will receive two separate $400,000 grants for work on US-160, the town of Madison in Greenwood County, which will receive $1.5 million for improvements to K-58, and Parsons, which will receive $1.25 million for work on US-59.
KDOT was able to increase CCLIP funding level for this selection cycle by more than $10 million over previous years due to additional federal funds coming to Kansas as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Legislation (BIL), according to a news release from Kelly’s office. Both federal and state funds are designated for the CCLIP program and local matching funds are required based on city population.
“With the Connecting Link program, KDOT partners with communities to find solutions to support local transportation priorities,” Lorenz said. “I very much appreciate the power of the state and communities pooling funds to make improvements.”
A City Connecting Link is defined as any routing of the State Highway System located with the corporate limits of a city, not including the Interstate System. For this CCLIP cycle applying to state fiscal years 2024-2025, KDOT received 54 applications requesting $38 million.
