With a school zone, baseball complex and growing array of health providers, city and county officials have become concerned about the speed that traffic follows on McKinley, south of 10th Street.
Monday the Barton County Commission joined with the Great Bend City Council in slowing down traffic on what was once — not that long ago — a township road.
It was well within the memory of many when what is now south McKinley was a dirt road leading out of town, towards Railroad Avenue, but since then it has been paved, made into a four-lane road, revamped with the help of federal “stimulus”  money and the speed it’s traveled has become a concern.
On Monday, the commissioners addressed the speeds along the part of the road that runs from Railroad Avenue to Second Street. That is the portion of McKinley that is in county jurisdiction.
Commissioners agreed that the speed should be reduced from 45 mph to 35, and that change was approved.
Also approved Monday was additional funding for the project to repair showers in the relatively new Barton County Jail.
In June, the commission approved a $17,750 project to make repairs and improvements to the nine showers at the jail.
The project provided epoxy coating to the shower walls and floors that have been leaking.
Total cost for the project was expected to be $17,750, Sheriff Greg Armstrong reported in June.
However, Armstrong told the commission Monday, it was discovered that there was a leak inside a shower wall and that the water had actually saturated through the concrete.
That required the crews to come back after drying time, for part of the project.
That return trip cost an extra $1,750. That extra expense was approved by the commission.