21-04-2025
- Business
- Business Journals
KDOT warns Edwardsville: Truck ban may cost federal funding
By submitting your information you are agreeing to our Privacy Policy and User Agreement .
The state agency sent a letter to Edwardsville explaining that its truck ban on 110th Street violates federal law and that if it's not revoked, the city could lose all its federal highway funding.
Edwardsville risks losing all of its federal highway funding because of a ban on truck traffic along 110th Street just south of Interstate 70, the Kansas Department of Transportation warns.
The ban affects a stretch of 110th between Riverview and Kansas avenues, where developer Scannell Properties spent millions preparing and planning to build more than 2.1 million square feet of light industrial in its $100 million Compass 70 Logistics project. The under-construction park sits in Bonner Springs along the border with Edwardsville.
Edwardsville instituted the ban on Sept. 23; Mayor Carolyn Caiharr, elected in 2022, lives about 1,000 feet from 110th and Riverview. Scannell sued Edwardsville in January in Kansas federal court, claiming fraud and misrepresentation and seeking damages, attorney fees and court costs.
GET TO KNOW YOUR CITY
Find Local Events Near You
Connect with a community of local professionals.
Explore All Events
The lawsuit prompted Edwardsville to put a moratorium on the truck ban until Jan. 1, 2027, but that doesn't resolve the dispute.
The ban violates federal law, which precludes denying access 'one road-mile from the national network using the most reasonable and practicable route,' absent specific safety reasons, KDOT warned in a March 12 letter to the city. The agency advised the city to revoke the ordinance before the moratorium expires. KDOT would be the enforcement agency for the federal government.
'Such a violation ... could jeopardize future federal aid highway funding to the City of Edwardsville,' KDOT wrote in the letter. 'Thus, KDOT advises that the City of Edwardsville come to a more permanent solution regarding truck traffic on 110th Street.'
Caiharr did not respond to a request for comment.
In 2015, Olathe enacted a truck ban on two blocks of Renner Boulevard between 119th Street and Olathe's northern city limit. That move also sparked a letter from KDOT explaining the violation of federal law. KDOT gave Olathe two months to rescind its ordinance or risk losing federal highway funding. Olathe ignored the threat for several months after the deadline passed, and KDOT sat on the sidelines without acting. However, Olathe eventually temporarily lifted the ban after being in violation of federal law for five months, then later permanently revoked it.
