By NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Discussions will continue on how to fix the ongoing issues at the end of the Woodie Seat Freeway, now that the federal grant the city was hoping to get was not awarded to them.
"If it's going to be locally funded, there's a few small grants that I'm told we could expect to receive," said city manager Jeff Cantrell. "They are certainly not sizable, but they would augment the project. We do have the ability to come up with what most people in the industry would consider to be a sustainable long-term design that won't cost the city 50-60 years down the road quite as much as the alternative design."
The more expensive alternative is to keep and fix the current bridges. Nevertheless, Cantrell wants to put it on the radar of the new council right away in 2022 so they can make decisions.
"I'm going to guess that we would set that up some time in January for that discussion going forward and see if we can somehow get on the same page with that," Cantrell said. "I think we're probably going to continue to have some opposing opinions as to what might be best in the city's long term approach to this. It's not going to get easier, it's just going to get more expensive, is all."
The concerns of the neighborhood have to do with the closing of Avenue B and with getting pedestrians, particularly kids, around in the area if a proposal similar to the one that was rejected for the grant ends up being the final plan.
No one knows for sure what the new council members may bring to the table. The specific date for a study session on the topic is not set yet.