On episode #169 of JoCo on the Go, we tell you all about two county programs that help provide funding for essential road and stormwater projects in cities around Johnson County. You’ll hear from city and county officials discussing the improvements that have been made possible thanks to Johnson County’s CARS and Stormwater programs and the positive impact they have had for our county’s residents. We’ll also take a look ahead to the projects anticipated for next year.

Look for JoCo on the Go where you regularly listen to podcasts.

Time	Subject
00:38	Introduction
01:23	CARS program
05:24	Stormwater Management Program
08:00	How projects are chosen
11:29	Lenexa projects
16:08	Fairway projects

Eric Schultz 0:00 

What hasn't happened in Johnson County's waterways this year? Major flooding. What has happened on Johnson County's roads? Major improvements and upgrades in several cities. Both are the result of two key programs, the County Assistance Road System and the Johnson County Stormwater Program. This edition of JoCo on the Go will take a look at both of them

Announcer 0:23 

Whether you live in or just love Johnson County, Kansas, JoCo on the Go has everything Johnson County. Here's what's happening and what's coming up in the community you call home.

Eric Schultz 0:38 

Hello and thanks for joining us for JoCo on the Go. I'm Eric Schultz from the Johnson County Public Information Office. On this episode, we'll talk about the county's role in improving the roads we drive on, and managing the stormwater that flows through our streets and waterways. Joining me are Lee Kellenberger, the Urban Services Division director in Johnson County's Public Works Department, and Heather Schmidt, the county's Stormwater Program manager, also in Public Works. Welcome to both of you.

Heather Schmidt 1:06 

Thank you.

Lee Kellenberger 1:07 

Hello, Eric, thanks.

Eric Schultz 1:08 

So the Johnson County Board of County Commissioners have authorized funds for the year 2025 for two important programs. The first is the County Assistance Road System, or CARS. Lee, can you tell us what CARS is and how that program works?

Lee Kellenberger 1:23 

Sure, Eric. The CARS program. CARS stands for the County Assistance Road System. The program was developed in the early 1980s by the Board of County Commissioners, and it really set the vision for how the arterial roads, or the arterial road network and transportation plan for the county was to grow over the years. We have...the commissioners know that no one city kind of stands alone when it comes to transportation. We have 20 cities in the county, and they wanted the transportation to be seamless, so you don't even know when you're leaving one city and entering another. So the program is developed to help cities maintain and expand those to meet the transportation needs of all of our cities.

Eric Schultz 2:07 

So looking back on this current year, 2024 what were some of the projects that were being worked on, that are being worked on this year?

Lee Kellenberger 2:16 

Yeah, in 2024 it was a very typical year for us. We had about 16 projects that were funded. The projects range from our traditional mill and overlay projects, major maintenance we call them. That's really been the bread and butter of our program. We typically...half of our funding every year goes to just maintain the existing infrastructure or the road network that's out there, and to ensure that, you know, it doesn't deteriorate to a point where it needs to be replaced. So they involve, you know, really, you know, we go in, we mill off the top two inches or so of asphalt. We do any patching to the base, or full depth repair to the base, if needed. You take the opportunity there to replace any deteriorated, you know, concrete curb or gutter or storm sewer system that goes under those roads, and then we go back in, usually, with new concrete sidewalks. We bring the ramps and the pedestrian crossings up to ADA standards, and then put down new asphalt and new pavement markings. So a couple of those were the Nall Avenue project from 67th to 75th Street, that's under construction right now. Lackman Road, another one at 87th Street, north to city limits. And then we also had a couple of other projects in 2024 that are underway as well. So those involve expanding of an existing two-lane arterial road to, like, a three- or a four-lane arterial road. And that's about the other half. Although those projects aren't as numerous as our mill and overlay projects, they also consume a lot of the budget because they are very expensive projects. So those projects are typically in areas where the county is growing. So the two examples I'll give you here are Black Bob Road from 159th Street to 167th Street. On the east side of that road is Heritage Park, which is county, and on the west side is the City of Olathe. A lot of development has occurred there the last five to 10 years, and that two-lane arterial road is no longer able to handle the capacity of the volume of traffic. So it's an overdue project, but the city and the county are cooperating jointly on that project, and we're going to, you know, expand that road to accommodate the increasing traffic volumes. And the last one I'll mention is our kind of our Lexington Avenue Project, with in partnership with the City of De Soto. As you know, De Soto is seeing rapid development out there with the new Panasonic development that's going in, and Lexington Avenue, again, was a two-lane arterial road. It's being expanded again into a four-lane divided complete streets arterial thoroughfare to accommodate the truck traffic and increased vehicles with the employees that are going to be needed to operate that plan.

Eric Schultz 5:12 

The other program that the commissioners authorized funding for in 2025 is the county's Stormwater Management Program. Heather, can you tell us about the Stormwater Management Program and give us an overview of how that works?

Heather Schmidt 5:24 

Sure. The Stormwater Management Program is a program that cost-shares with the cities on stormwater improvement projects. These can include flood risk reduction projects, which has typically been the bread and butter of our program since the beginning, but also storm sewer replacement projects, where we cost share with the cities to replace failing infrastructure. And then we also cost-share with the cities on water quality improvement projects.

Eric Schultz 5:56 

What are some of the highlights this year in 2024?

Heather Schmidt 5:58 

So in 2024, our program operates a little differently than the CARS program, where some of our projects take several years to design and then construct. So we didn't have a lot of flood risk reduction projects, but we did fund 19 projects in seven different cities for storm sewer replacement. So these are projects that go in and replace failing infrastructure to reduce risk of sinkholes and things like that forming in roads. And we also partner with...or the cities also partner with the CARS program. Like Lee mentioned that storm sewer replacement, when they are doing transportation improvement projects, they can use the stormwater funding to replace that failing infrastructure.

Eric Schultz 6:47

And speaking of 2024, in July, I understand there was a significant rain event, and because of work that was carried out in partnership with the Stormwater Management Program, there was quite a bit of damage that was averted in the City of Prairie Village.

Heather Schmidt 7:02 

Yes, that's right, Eric. The City of Prairie Village recently completed a flood risk reduction project near Mission Road. This area had a history of Mission Road overtopping, causing it to have to be closed during significant rain events. And then additionally, several homes along Mission Road there experience flooding. So the City of Prairie Village approached us with a project. We funded it, and it was recently completed. And so that rain event in July 1, 2024 was contained, as opposed to overtopping the roads again and causing closures and risk to the traveling public.

Eric Schultz 7:55 

Now that's quite a success story. Lee, how are these projects chosen and how are they prioritized?

Lee Kellenberger 8:00 

Yeah, so on the CARS side, the projects are chosen based on an allocation method. They're prioritized based on the city's needs. Really, a lot of the strategic planning and prioritization happens at the city level. It's their infrastructure. They know what needs replacement or upgraded best. So we allow them to submit their top priority project each year. Those projects all go into a basket for consideration at our level. And then we look at the funds available and the projects that were submitted, and we allocate the funding based on our administrative procedures and award funding annually. And then the Board of County Commissioners, you know, recommends final adoption of those

Eric Schultz 8:51 

Heather, same question for you. In the Stormwater Management Program, how are those projects chosen? How are they prioritized?

Heather Schmidt 8:59 

So similar, the cities bring forward their projects, either system replacement or flood risk reduction or water quality projects. We use a risk-based approach to rank our projects, so we have a process that the cities go through where they look at the existing risk to either flooding or how close their stormwater infrastructure is to failing, or how impaired their water quality is. And then they propose a project, and we look at that difference in the risk score, and then take the risk divided by the amount of the project, and so we rank based on the best risk reduction per dollar spent.

Eric Schultz 9:43 

Got it. And I want to ask each of you, over the years, what has been the cities' reaction to to getting this funding? Lee, what about with the CARS program? How do the cities feel about getting help with their roads?

Lee Kellenberger 9:58 

Yeah, they're very, very, very appreciative of this program and the funding that's available. We pass through all the gas taxes is given to the county, and that's the main source of this funding. We take that funding and, you know, we leverage it, and the cities have to provide their match as well. But if not for this program, you know, a lot of these projects would never be completed, and our road system would not be in the condition that it is here in Johnson County.

Eric Schultz 10:29 

And Heather, I'm guessing the cities are pretty grateful for the help that the county is providing for stormwater.

Heather Schmidt 10:36 

That's correct. Similar with Lee, the cities are very appreciative. We've had this program in place since the early '90s. We've been able to reduce a lot of flood risk throughout the county. Some of the smaller cities, especially, would be really difficult for them to take on a full flood risk reduction project just on their own. Plus, like in the northeast, it's very...the cities are very small, so doing a big project would be difficult.

Eric Schultz 11:06 

One project benefiting from the CARS program is taking place on Lackman Road in Lenexa. And joining me from the City of Lenexa is Cody Wilbers, assistant municipal services director from the City of Lenexa. Cody, thanks for joining us. Welcome.

Cody Wilbers 11:21 

Thanks for having me, Eric.

Eric Schultz 11:22 

So tell us what's going on with Lackman Road, what stretch that's being worked on and where does that work stand?

Cody Wilbers 11:29 

Yeah, Lackman Road, the project's substantially complete, and we're going from 87th Street Parkway up north to the northern city limits. Project consists of concrete repairs, which that means we're taking care of cracks, spalls, concrete heaves, settling for both the sidewalk and the curb and gutter. We're reviewing all the ramps to make sure they are compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, or the ADA, making sure they're ADA compliant. That program has just blown up the last 40 years to make sure that any citizen, whether they're impaired visually, walking impairments, anything like that, that they can use the sidewalks and traverse the roadways to get where they're going and just getting outside to enjoy the infrastructure that we have. The project also consists of some pipe lining and replacement. Storm sewer can be very expensive to remove and replace, but there is a technology out there that lines these pipes, and it extends the life of them for years to come, and it is a much cheaper alternative than full removal and replacement. And then at the end of it, we do mill and overlay the entire roadway, providing a safe, smooth route for people to traverse over. And then we put new pavement markings over the entire area to make sure people know how to traverse it as needed.

Eric Schultz 12:58 

Yeah, and Lackman Road's by no means a new road. Why is it so important to do this upkeep?

Cody Wilbers 13:04 

So this is a preventative maintenance project. It's not your big, shiny new bridge or road out in the middle of nowhere, but it's preventative maintenance. These projects are 10 to 20% the cost of a full reconstruction, so that's just a huge benefit. If we get to it prior to it fully falling apart, we can extend the life for another 10 years, and then we continue this process. You know, every eight to 12 years we do more preventative maintenance on this. So this is going to extend the stormwater system out there, and it's going to extend the life of the pavement, provides a new, smooth road surface, and it also provides a smooth walking surface for people to drive over there. We do have some trees along Lackman, and some of those sidewalks will just pop up ever so slightly, and if you were to walk over on those, create tripping hazards, our goal is to get rid of those with projects of this nature. But like I said, preventative maintenance isn't always the new shiny big thing, but it does make our roads last longer, and it keeps the conditions of Johnson County roads in a condition that our citizens want and expect.

Eric Schultz 14:11

Right, and I understand there's in addition to the work on Lackman, there's one other project in Lenexa benefitting from cars funding. Can you tell us where that is and what that project is?

Cody Wilbers 14:23

Yeah, that's the 95th Street and Loiret Boulevard intersection. The traffic in that area has really just continued to grow. And so we're actually putting a new traffic signal at that location. They'll also be new ADA ramps, or Americans with Disabilities Act ramps, for that, some pedestrian signals, push buttons, and the goal is just to make that intersection more user-friendly and make sure traffic can get in and out of there, as need be.

Eric Schultz 14:51 

With those two projects ongoing, how has the funding from the CARS program made all this work possible?

Cody Wilbers 14:59 

The CARS program just helps every dollar go a bit further. Lenexa does have a well-funded pavement management program and CIP program. But when we get an extra $752 million a year in CARS funding, that's an extra $750 million dollars’ worth of work we can do throughout the city. This year, our pavement management program did over 50 lane miles' worth of work, and that includes updating those ramps for the Americans with Disabilities Act, repairing deteriorated curb and gutter and milling and overlaying roadways to provide smoother surfaces for people to drive on. So just that additional funding makes that 50 lane miles possible.

Eric Schultz 15:47

Well, it sounds like you guys are certainly busy. Cody, I want to thank you for joining me on JoCo on the Go and providing that update from Lenexa.

Cody Wilbers 15:54

Appreciate your time as well, and I appreciate the funding assistance and your team that has worked so hard with me to make sure that money is there.

Eric Schultz 16:01 

I'm joined now by Bill Stogsdill, the director of Public Works for the City of Fairway. Bill, how are you today?

Bill Stogsdill 16:07 

I'm doing good. Eric, how are you?

Eric Schultz 16:08 

Good. So tell us, what are some projects going on right now in Fairway that are getting CARS and stormwater funding?

Bill Stogsdill 16:08 

We have two projects this year with assistance from the county. We have a stormwater renewal project on Suwanee Road. We had an aging clay line that was causing several sinkholes in the backyard, so we got about $45,000 in funding from the county to help us replace that and plummet down a property line, as opposed to the middle of a backyard, so it avoids the usable area in the backyard. And the residents are very happy that that project was done. Then we also are taking part in a four-city CARS project, Roe Avenue from 63rd all the way to Johnson Drive. Mission is the lead on the project. But we have about $208,000 in county funding coming in from that.

Eric Schultz 17:05 

So you guys have been busy, no doubt. What are some of the

Bill Stogsdill 17:09 

Yeah, we're pretty busy.

Eric Schultz 17:11 

Absolutely, I wanted to ask you, what are some of the projects coming up in 2025?

Bill Stogsdill 17:16 

In 2025, we have two CARS projects. We are the lead agency on 55th Street project from Shawnee Mission Parkway to Roe. We're the lead with Roland Park. We have about $100,000 of county funding in that, and then we have a very small piece of a very large, over $2 million project with the City of Roland Park in Westwood. We have about $21,000 in funding in it on Mission Road from 53rd Street to 47th Street.

Eric Schultz 17:46 

So how critical are the CARS program and the stormwater program to what you do there in Fairway?

Bill Stogsdill 17:51 

Yeah, historically, I've been the public works director here since about 2006, and we've utilized these funds for numerous projects, some that even had federal funds in it. We would not be able to maintain our larger infrastructure or main arterials without the funding that we get from the county for these projects.

Eric Schultz 18:12 

And you were just saying you take a road like Mission Road, where thousands of people drive on it every day, probably most of them are not from Fairway, but yet you are maintaining it as best you can.

Bill Stogsdill 18:23 

Yeah, we are charged with taking care of Mission Road from Shawnee Mission Parkway to 63rd Street. And I would say probably about 5% of the travelers are from Fairway, and the rest are from outside the county, since it's a major connecting link up to Shawnee Mission Parkway.

Eric Schultz 18:39 

Alright, Bill, thank you for joining us and sharing what's going on in Fairway, and best of luck to you.

Bill Stogsdill 18:45 

Thank you, sir.

Eric Schultz 18:46 

I'm now rejoined by Lee Kellenberger and Heather Schmidt from the Johnson County Public Works Department, and I'd like to look ahead now to the year 2025. So Lee, how much money was approved for the CARS program in 2025?

Lee Kellenberger 19:00 

The total funding for the CARS program is going to be $18,485,000. The two main sources of that funding are the gas tax, which I mentioned earlier, which is just over $13 million, and then the county support of 0.343 mills, which is about $5 million. So the two main funding sources, again, are the gas tax and the county ad valorem support.

Eric Schultz 19:28 

And there's a cost-share involved with the cities. Can you tell us how that works?

Lee Kellenberger 19:32 

Yeah, the CARS program cost-shares on 50% of the cost for construction and construction inspection. We did not pay for any design or right-of-way acquisition like that. We displayed straight up 50% cost-share on the construction of the project.

Eric Schultz 19:33 

And then just give us some idea of what projects are on the drawing board for next year.

Lee Kellenberger 19:57 

Yeah. So for 2025, it's similar to our previous years. We have about, I believe, eight major maintenance projects. Some of those of note are going to be over in Leawood, 103rd Street from Mission Road to State Line Road. Again, up in Prairie Village, we're going to continue work on 63rd Street from Nall Avenue to Roe Avenue, another major maintenance project. And then if we swing down over into south Overland Park, another kind of an out-of-the-box project for us is Quivira Road from 179th Street to 187th Street. That's going to be the construction of a missing segment of Quivira Road that doesn't exist today. Well, it exists, but it's been...the bridge washed out many years ago. So with the development down there Overland Park, it's time for them to reopen that road and construct that to their urban standards. So those are the highlights. I think, of the projects for 2025.

Eric Schultz 21:01 

Sure, and again, maintaining the roads that need to be maintained, and then accounting for some of the growth. And I'm sure those folks in south Overland Park will appreciate the convenience of having Quivira be able to go through to some of those streets in the southern part of the city. Heather, how much money was approved for the stormwater program in 2025?

Heather Schmidt 21:24 

So in 2025, $27,775,000 are being proposed for the Stormwater Program.

Eric Schultz 21:34 

And there's also cost-sharing involved with the Stormwater Program. Can you tell us a little bit how that works?

Heather Schmidt 21:41 

Yes, for the Stormwater Program, we do a 50-50 cost-share with the cities on system replacement projects, and then also on flood risk reduction projects and water quality improvement projects.

Eric Schultz 21:52 

Alright. And then, can you preview some of the projects that are on the drawing board for next year for stormwater?

Heather Schmidt 21:59 

Yes, so in 2025 we have a project with the City of Mission where they are going to do some flood risk reduction work in downtown Mission to alleviate flooding from Rock Creek. We're also starting a project, continuing a project with the City of Overland Park, where they are doing some work at 103rd and Connell. This is phase four of the project, where they're taking a significant amount of homes and reducing the flood risk from those. Additionally, we have the system, the stormwater system replacement projects. I don't have specifics on all of those projects. But we have 23 projects that we will be doing in 2025 and partnering with 10 different cities.

Eric Schultz 22:47 

Heather Schmidt, Stormwater Management Program Director, and Lee Kellenberger, Urban Services Division Director, I want to thank both of you for joining me and sharing this great information about our roads and stormwater here in Johnson County.

Lee Kellenberger 23:00 

Thanks, Eric.

Heather Schmidt 23:00 

Thank you, Eric.

Eric Schultz 23:01 

I also want to thank Cody Wilbers from the City of Lenexa and Bill Stogsdill from the City of Fairway. For more information about the CARS and Stormwater Programs, you can go to jocogov.org and in the department directory, choose Public Works, then click either Stormwater Management or the CARS program. Thanks for listening to JoCo on the Go.

Announcer 23:22 

You just heard JoCo on the Go. Join us next time for more everything Johnson County. Have a topic you want to discuss? We want to hear from you. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter at jocogov. For more on this podcast, visit jocogov.org/podcast. Thanks for listening.