Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback (R) announced a proposed plan to have the state’s Department of Transportation oversee the operations of the Kansas Turnpike Authority.
Brownback, who unveiled the plan in his State of the State speech earlier this month, said the plan would shave $15 million a year from the DOT budget. He said Kansas did not need “two highway departments,” but the state’s trucking industry said the plan is unwise.
The 236-mile Kansas Turnpike, the only toll road in the state, was opened to traffic in October 1956 and runs from the Kansas-Missouri state line southwest through Topeka and Wichita to the Oklahoma state line.
“We for years have thought that [the turnpike] is run extremely efficiently and it should not be subjected to the bureaucracy of a state agency nor the whims of the legislature,” Tom Whitaker, executive director of the Kansas Motor Carriers Association, told Transport Topics.
Currently, under state statute, all toll revenues must be used to support turnpike operations and maintenance. That statute could be undermined if the DOT uses turnpike revenues and assets, Whitaker said.
DOT officials said legislation is being drafted in the lower house that would allow for the DOT operations takeover and is expected to be introduced next week. However, officials said they did not know how Brownback’s plan would benefit the turnpike, which unlike the DOT, is not expected to see any of the $15 million in projected savings.
The 236-mile turnpike, the only toll road in the state, was opened to traffic in October 1956 and runs from the Kansas-Missouri state line southwest through Topeka and Wichita to the Oklahoma state line.
