Koss Construction of Topeka will rebuild Emporia’s entrance to the Kansas Turnpike.
The board of the Kansas Turnpike Authority approved the $32,957,445 bid Thursday night. When bids were opened last week, Koss was the low bidder.
A pre-construction meeting to set the start date and phasing of the project has not been scheduled yet, according to KTA spokeswoman Lisa Callahan. But utility companies have already started moving lines away from the area.
“They always start the utilities early on a project like this,” Callahan said. “That has to be moved before they can start construction.”
The process began last week with Alltel. Other utilities moving lines include AT&T, Westar, Kansas Gas, Sprint and also Magellan Pipeline, which has two major gas lines to move.
The project will straighten out the “spaghetti bowl” of access roads in the area, in part by replacing the interchange’s merge lanes with roundabouts.