The speed limit on a portion of Americus Road will not be changing anytime soon, following a report to Lyon County Commissioners Thursday morning.
Lyon County Engineer Wayne Scritchfield delivered the report to commissioners as part of their regular meeting after the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office and commissioners themselves asked if the posted speed limit on Americus Road (Road F) through Bushong could be raised from 30 mph to 45. Scritchfield says the department then conducted a speed evaluation on the road segment, measuring multiple variables.
When it comes to sight distance, Scritchfield says the road “failed miserably,” and while this is not the only factor, it “weighs heavily” on the final decision.
In other business on Thursday, Scritchfield also requested that commissioners reject all submitted bids for a scrub seal aggregate for a planned chip seal project on Americus Road, which was approved unanimously. According to Scritchfield, the reason the request was made was due to additional traffic on the roadway as a result of a detour around a separate worksite on Kansas Highway 177.
The project will still be taking place; however, it will be shifting to near Hartford as Scritchfield tells KVOE News the department is planning to conduct the same chip seal work at the intersection of Road 130 and Kansas Highway 99 to Hartford and from Hartford on the paved road five and a half miles out of town. He adds they already have the necessary gravel material for the project and are putting out bids for the rest of the project’s materials this week.
Although it was not an agenda item, KVOE News sought an update from Scritchfield on the Rocky Ford Bridge replacement project. Scritchfield says the contractors had conducted recent testing and survey work at the site; however, that information has not been delivered to him as of yet.
Scritchfield will be providing an update on the project during KVOE’s Newsmaker segment at 7:20 Thursday morning.
In separate matters on Thursday, commissioners reviewed the annual contract renewal with CareArc for providing county public health services. CareArc requested an additional $25,000 for budget year 2026 and indicated it may seek an additional $100,000 for fiscal year 2027.
Commissioners have taken the requests under advisement and took no action on the matter. The annual budget appropriation cycle begins in May and commissioners may render a decision on those requests as part of that process, however, no official direction has been given at this time.
County commissioners will reconvene next Thursday at 9 am inside the Lyon County Courthouse Commission Chambers.
