Douglas County approves NEPA consultant to advance Wakarusa Drive extension

The Douglas County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously May 13 to authorize an engineering agreement with HNTB Corporation to prepare a National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) environmental assessment for the proposed Wakarusa Drive extension.

County staff presented the plan as a long-planned link that would extend Walker Vista Drive south to connect with County Route 5 (E 1000 Road) and provide a more direct emergency-access route for the southwest quadrant of the county. Chad Voigt, county public‑works staff (introduced by the commission as Chad Voigt), said the alignment threads between a golf course, the Wakarusa River and existing wetlands and that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers controls some of the land the county hopes to cross.

"The Corps of Engineers has ownership and control of that ground," Voigt told commissioners. He said the Corps asked for an NEPA‑level assessment — an uncommon requirement for a local project — and that the county selected HNTB, the firm that performed prior NEPA work and design on the South Lawrence Trafficway, to prepare the scope. "We're anticipating that would be by the end of the year," Voigt said of the Corps' decision timetable for the assessment.

Voigt described a plan for two 30‑day public comment periods during the Corps' review and said the Corps would lead publication and outreach. He told the board HNTB's fee for the NEPA task would not exceed $276,835.12 and that the county already has roughly $10.8 million in the capital improvement fund allocated to the project based on a 2025 estimate.

Residents at the meeting urged caution. Dominique, a local resident, urged the commission to consider the long record of environmental harm in the Wakarusa River valley and asked why the county was again consulting firms tied to prior regional roadway projects. "It is just astounding to me that I feel like we keep having the same conversation over and over again," Dominique said, urging better planning and tribal consultation.

Other commenters raised similar points about cultural resources, wetlands and possible development pressures once a road is built. Voigt said the environmental assessment will include cultural‑resource investigations, threatened and endangered‑species documentation, and wetland mitigation planning; he said those findings could change the project approach if significant resources are identified.

Commissioners pressed staff on alternatives, timing relative to KDOT work on the South Lawrence Trafficway interchange, maintenance responsibility (Voigt said the road would be a county route maintained by Douglas County Public Works) and the county's obligation to KDOT if the project does not proceed (Voigt said the agreement with KDOT could require a cash payment, approximately $9 million, in lieu of building a local match).

After questions and public comment, Commissioner (moving) motioned to authorize the chair to execute the HNTB engineering services agreement for project 2021‑R1, Walker Vista Drive extension, at a maximum cost not to exceed $276,835.12. The board voted to approve the contract by voice vote.

The project schedule provided to the commission estimates construction opening by the end of 2028 in a best‑case scenario; staff said design and updated cost estimates will return to the commission as part of the next CIP update.

The commission directed staff to return with Corps findings and with public‑comment summaries when they become available.

Ending: The authorization allows the county to begin the NEPA process; the Corps of Engineers will publish the environmental assessment and lead the formal comment periods that determine whether the proposed alignment can proceed.