“Road Closed” signs are springing up on streets around Great Bend as a $2 million street improvement project gets underway.
It includes 151 blocks, including 24 blocks of four-lanes streets, making it among the largest street repair efforts the city has undertaken. The list also includes the Eighth Street improvement at the Great Bend Municipal Airport in conjunction with the transload project.
In July, the City Council approved a $2,001,000 contract with local contractor Venture Corporation. It is anticipated the mill and overlay work should be done by the end of the year, said Venture’s Executive Vice President Chris Spray.
“It’s a multi-step process,” Spray said. First, the street has to milled, grinding off at least 2 inches of existing asphalt surface.
Next comes sweeping and cleaning, followed by the application of layer of oil. Then, the new asphalt is poured and compacted.
Spray said they can complete about four blocks a day. In all, there are 40 Venture employees on this job, including 12 hired specifically for this project, who work about 12 hours each day.
“We try to inconvenience people as little as possible,” he said. They leave notices at the homes in the impacted areas, along with a $5 gift certificate at a local restaurant.
Roughly 17-18,000 tons of material will be milled off of the streets during this project, with another 17-18,000 tons of new asphalt applied. Venture has a mixing plant at Dundee west of Great Bend where the new material is prepared before being trucked into town.
The Public Works Department, Street Division, identified streets that needed attention this year. A final list was compiled and given to Venture for an estimate.
The city is trying to avoid having to play catch up with city streets, city officials have said. In 2008, the city approved a $5 million bond issue for street repairs. This was a huge step, but the streets were in dire condition.
So, to help pay for such maintenance, the quarter-cent tax was implemented on July 1 , 2008, and earmarked for street improvements. That quarter-cent tax sunsets April 1, 2018, and will be on the ballot Nov. 7 for renewal.
The city also has a half-cent sales tax that expires in 2025, 45 percent of which goes to infrastructure including streets. In addition, the city has a street fund and a special street fund that pay for salaries and other related expenses.
Spray said the city has done a good job of keeping on top of the street repairs.
In addition, three alleys were added to be milled and overlayed. These are: Between 10th and 11th, from Washington to Odell; Jackson and Van Buren, from 10th to 12th; and between 20th and 21st, from Van Buren to Harrison.

2017 mill and overlay street projects

In town:
• Sandpiper Lane - from McKinley Street to cul-de-sac
• Cherry Lane - from Broadway Avenue to south dead end
• Eisenhower Avenue - from Cherry Lane to West Goldenview
• Eisenhower Court - from Churchill Lane to Cherry Lane
• Ridgeway Drive - from Eisenhower to Warner Road
• Warner Road - from Eisenhower to MacArthur
• Eighth Street - from McKinley to Coolidge
• Taft - from Eighth Street to south dead end
• Wilson - from Eighth Street to south dead end
• Coolidge - from 200 feet south of Farmers Bank to south dead end
• 17th Street - from Polk to Van Buren
• Tyler - from 19th to Broadway
• Apollo - from Telstar to 17th Street Terrace
• Meadowlark Lane - from Jefferson to Harrison
• 22nd Street - from Adams to Jackson Street
• 16th Street - from Washington to Adams
• 16th Street - from Harrison to Madison
• Hemlock - from Mulberry to west end
• Aspen - from Mulberry to west end
• Birchwood - from Mulberry to west end
• Van Buren - from 16th to 18th
• San Domingo - from 21st to 23rd
• 22nd Street - from Jackson to Adams
• Van Buren- from 21st to 23rd
• Monroe - from 21st to 23rd
• Madison - from 16th to 17th
• Adams - from 21st to 20th
• Adams - from 16th to 17th
• Lakin - from Harrison to Odell
• Jackson - from lOth to Forest
• Monroe - from Ninth to south dead end
• Adams - from Eighth to Ninth
• Eighth - from East Williams to Stone
• Eighth - from Morphy to Odell
• Williams - from Ninth to south of tracks
• Lakin - from Odell to Washington
• Odell - from 16th to Forest
• 19th Street - from Main to Morton
• Morphy - from Broadway to 16th
• Odell - from Forest to 16th
• Gano - 29th to north end
• Gano - 24th to 26th
• Morton - from 31st to 32nd
• 32nd Place - 32nd Street to Cavanaugh Fields
• 24th Street - from By Pass to Frey
• Park - from Frey to By Pass
• Baker - from lOth to 12th
• Heizer - from Seventh to Eighth
• Hubbard - from Ninth to Eighth
• Baker - from Seventh to Eighth
• 3rd Street - from Baker to Hubbard
• 3rd Street - from Fruit to Frey
• 4th Street - from Plum to Dogwood
• Lakin - Baker to Frey
• Elm - Ninth to 10th

At the Great Bend Municipal Airport:

• C Street - Sixth to south of tracks
• Eighth Street - Airport Road to Watco (the transload facility)