A full audience was present for part of the Pottawatomie County Commission meeting on Monday as the Westmoreland Road bridge project was on the agenda.
Community members came in to express their concerns about the detour that will come from the bridge project.
Many of those present tried to show how a shoe-fly or having stop lights would be the best option even with the $100,000 price tag.
Commission members, however, turned their focus to trying to improve adjacent roads to make them safer for people to use, most importantly Bigelow Road.
Bruce Brazzle, Fire Supervisor, and Chris Trudo, Emergency Management Director, gave a presentation to review the response time that will come from using alternative routes compared to what is usually done with Westmoreland Road.
Brazzle explained during the presentation they took a set spot and ran the course along Westmoreland and then from Bigelow and response time was about 4 minutes more using Bigelow.
No decision was made as the commission wants to examine their options and the comments made by the community.
Other items on the agenda included a report concerning the Justice Center.
Trisha Brooke-Fruent, Construction Manager for SMH Consultants, told commissioners a mason company has yet to still be assigned to the project as they are still in negotiations with the surety company.
The Westmoreland Streetscape project was also presented during Monday’s meeting.
Jeff Hancock, project manager, asked the commission to submit a letter of approval for the project to be taken to the Kansas Department of Transportation as part of a grant application.
There will be a final open house on this project Thursday, January 31 beginning at 7 pm at the Westmoreland Community Center.
