Late on July 1, Kansas U.S. Senator Jerry Moran informed the Pawnee County Commissioners that Pawnee County has been named a recipient of a $20,255,000 federal BUILD grant for use to upgrade the county/township roads to accommodate anticipated truck traffic associated with the new feedlot off of South K-19.

The proposed plan is to pave D Road from K-19 to 80th Avenue and substantially upgrade E Road (known as the Zook Blacktop). The County also plans to pave 90th Avenue between D and E roads.

The BUILD program (Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development) grant program provides grants for surface transportation infrastructure projects with significant local or regional impact. The eligibility requirements of BUILD allow project sponsors to pursue multi-modal and multi-jurisdictional projects that are more difficult to fund through other programs.

The road improvement project is to improve roads for heavy truck traffic for the new Innovative Livestock Services (ILS) feedlot in southern Pawnee County, about 11 miles southeast of Larned. The $50 million facility will hold 88,000 beef cattle and is to become operational in 2027, and expected to provide 70-80 new jobs, provide markets for nearby corn farmers and, eventually, add about $50 million in valuation to the county tax base.

Brian Carlton, Manager of the new ILS facility commented, “This is an amazing opportunity for Pawnee County to receive this grant. I am humbled to see the efforts from many entities that wrote letters of support. It’s great to see the momentum this provides as we invest into this community.”