The K-18 Corridor Improvement Project is nearly complete!
Local and State Officials from Riley and Geary counties, Manhattan, Ogden, Junction City, Fort Riley and K-State joined KDOT Friday morning at Westview Community Church in Manhattan, to officially dedicate the three-year, 135 million dollar construction project.
The project converted about seven miles of K-18 between Ogden and Manhattan into a four-lane freeway with multiple bridges, interchanges and major flood control measures.
“As Manhattan has grown, as Kansas State has grown, with NBAF coming up here now, with the improvements that we’re making to the airport, we’re now able to get safely to the areas of the state that are rapidly growing,” said Mike King, transportation secretary for KDOT
Safety is key as King said it was one of the driving forces behind the project.
“I can proudly say this. This calendar year, through October, we’re 50 less fatalities than where we were at last year. That is huge, that is primary. One fatality is too many, but we’re down 50 and it takes projects like this to do it.”
The final phase of the K-18 Corridor Improvement Project will conclude later this month.