The Barton County Engineering Department announced road work is scheduled to begin on Wednesday, Jan. 26, for intersection signing improvements on North Washington Avenue at North 30 Road, and for the widening of a concrete drainage box on NW 50 Road just east of NW 10 Avenue.

The intersection signing improvements include the installation of improved advance warning signs, LED stop signs, removal of trees along the southeast corner, advance radar speed displays, improved rumble strips on North 30 Road, and new pavement markings. Traffic will remain open during construction at the intersection.

The concrete box widening project will entail widening the structure 16 feet on each side of the roadway, followed by earthwork and asphalt surfacing to construct gentler shoulder slopes and to eliminate the vertical drop-offs that are currently next to the edges of the road.

NW 50 Road between North Washington Avenue and NW 10 Avenue will be closed to through traffic. Local traffic will be able to access homes and the two cemeteries by going west from North Washington Avenue, but the road will be closed at the project site that is approximately 0.1 mile east of NW 10 Avenue. A detour route on NW 10 Avenue will be set up to direct traffic around the work area. 

L&M Contractors Inc. of Great Bend is the prime contractor on the project. The work is funded through a Kansas Department of Transportation High Risk Rural Roads project, with 85 working days being allotted for completion of the project.