KDOT Work Zone - South Highway 27

by Krista Norton | September 23, 2021

Traveling on south on Main Street, also known as Highway 27, has been a challenge for many but the end result will be a great improvement for the City of Syracuse and those traveling this highway. 

But like remodeling an old home, city projects can have unexpected things come up once you tie into it. This is the case with the highway project, finding old curb and guttering, water lines, and other older items in disrepair.  

Overseeing the Kansas Department of Transportation project, in addition to the ten contractors hired is Clayton Grusing. He explains the old water line ran under main street, and it has deteriorated over the years. The City of Syracuse has had problems with it leaking, which has caused subgrade issues. 

The water line has been moved to the east side of the street, and the storm sewers have gotten a major upgrade.  Almost twice as many inlets have been added to the storm sewers, the storm sewer pipes are significantly larger and are oval shaped which allows for increased water flow when needed. 

Water from the storm drain will continue to drain into the ditch by the fairgrounds, but the ditch will have a concrete liner, helping to shed the water on down.

The water system also received a major upgrade. Eight fire hydrants, including the one near First National Bank have been replaced with new hydrants that have five-inch outlets, creating more flow for fire trucks. This was made possible by raising the actual size of the water main so it can support that. 

Relocating the water line to the east side of the street makes it easier for the city to repair the line if there is a leak and means the pavement will not need to be torn up to repair the line.  The addition of new water valves, and more of them, will allow workers to shut off the water for repair, whereas before, old ones would not completely shut off. Residential water lines have also been upgraded from a three-quarter inch to one inch line.  Most residents will not notice this difference, but more water will be available, should they need it.  

What most people notice is the extensive digging of the street. They are currently taking out the subgrade, which was like a marshmallow due to water leaking under the street, so there was no real subgrade to support the pavement. 

This will be cut down, and when it is all to grade, they will come in with a machine that resembles a big rototiller, working cement into the dirt, solidifying six inches of the subgrade, then a layer of asphalt on top of the subgrade. 

Currently they are halfway into the project, but with winter weather approaching, they anticipate possible delays. Grusing said,” No matter what time of year we do something, we interfere with something else, the quicker we can get in and out, the better for everyone.” 

It’s important for drivers to be patient and obey the reduced speed limit in the work zone. “Everyone working here wants to get the project done as quickly as possible, but safety of our work crews and the traveling public is important,” said Grusing. “We are moving heavy equipment through traffic because we have to and we base that on twenty mile per hour traffic, when drivers are going 50 miles per hour instead of 20 miles per hour, there are a lot of close calls.”

Traveling through the construction, you may notice a lot of bumps, these are created by the installation of cross pipes, which connect inlets to either side. These bumps will be milled and paved again to smooth out the road’s surface before the project is complete.  Until then, asphalt millings are used to smooth out the road’s surface.  These bumps and the millings are another reason for the 20 mile per hour speed limit in the work zone.   

Ninety-nine days on the clock, and counting…