transportation

President Donald Trump unveiled a $1.5 trillion infrastructure proposal on Monday built on plans that would more heavily rely on state and local dollars being matched with money from Washington.

Kansas has repeatedly dipped into its highway fund in recent years to balance the budget for all of state government.

Now lawmakers are contemplating a task force to study what that’s meant for the state’s roads and bridges.

On average, there are more than 10,000 collisions between cars and deer in Kansas every year. According to the Kansas Department of Transportation, November is peak season for these types of accidents. 

Beginning next month, Wichita’s Q-Line – the free shuttle trolley service – will change routes to serve a broader area, and will include weekday service during lunchtime.

Currently, the trolley service operates in a circular fashion in the downtown area. Wichita Transit Director Steve Spade says the new system will operate north and south, serving hotels on Market and Main streets and in Old Town. Spade says the second route will expand east and west on Douglas.

The Kansas Department of Transportation is moving forward with a bridge maintenance project in Reno County.

It is one of three projects statewide that was approved in January.

The bridge is on U.S. 50, about three miles from the Reno/Stafford County line.

It’s just outside of the city of Sylvia.

KDOT District 5 Spokesman Zach Oswald says the bridge is more than 40 years old and needs extensive maintenance.

After nearly 30 years on Murdock Street, the Sedgwick County tag office in downtown Wichita is moving west.

The Murdock location will close at 5 p.m. on Friday and open at Douglas and Meridian inside the former Dillons store on Monday at noon.

“We are going to move all weekend long and we’ll have everything set up," says Sedgwick County Treasurer Linda Kizzire. "We’ll have clerks at the location early. We’ve got to test all the computers, the software, make sure everything is going to be operational before we open the doors to the public.”

Kansas Sen. Jerry Moran emphasized the importance of drones to the state's economy Thursday at a meeting with the U.S. Secretary of Transportation.

Moran, Wichita State University President John Bardo and many leaders in aviation met at a forum at the National Institute for Aviation Research, or NIAR.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said that he feels that the government is on a good path as far as drone use goes, but that he has concerns about private sector use. He says officials are looking at ways of registering drones so that they can be traced.

The city of Wichita approved its operating budget for 2016 this afternoon, and unlike the proceedings of the county budget, little to no public backlash has surrounded the $227 million dollars approved for next year’s general fund.

City leaders were happy to announce that property taxes will not be increasing for the 22nd straight year.