Relief from rugged driving conditions over the Woodie Seat Freeway linking Hutchinson and South Hutch will soon get underway but it may be nearly two years before all improvements are completed.

We have good and bad news for those long praying for a smooth drive on one of Hutchinson’s most prominent and busy roadways now known for deteriorating conditions that have caused our old friend and community leader Woodie Seat to turn over numerous times in his grave.

Work on the Arkansas River bridge, which Reno County is responsible for repairing, and freeway sections to the north, which City Hall must shoulder, is to get underway shortly after the Kansas State Fair closes on Sept. 17. The four-lane, 68-year-old river bridge will be totally shut down for patching and related work, all designed to extend its life for another 25 to 30 years, rather than face a $12 million total replacement, according to County Public Works director Don Brittain.

A soon-to-start detour leading over to the Frank Hart/South Main bridge will be in effect while initial work is done, then lifted when winter weather stops the project until spring when a new surface coating goes on. While bridge repairs take place by a Topeka company called PCI, the city has a contract with APAC/Shears of Hutchinson for Phase One on the Woodie Seat. That also begins after the fair and extends to the C Street bridge. The badly broken and eyesight concerning the concrete median will be removed along with stabilization patchwork, but Old Man Winter again shuts down work until asphalt can be laid sometime next spring. That means completing Phase One could stretch until next June.

Then follows Phase Two, which will include upgrades on the Avenue B bridge and a city council-approved roundabout near A and Adams where the freeway currently dumps traffic. Bonds valued at $450,000 were approved to design Phase Two after APAC was the only bidder on a $4.1 million construction tab for Phase One and includes Ark River bridge work which will cost $l,580,000. The city’s share for initial freeway construction totals $2,520,000.

The good news about all of this, along with work finally getting underway soon, is that Brittain’s contacts with the Kansas Department of Transportation secured $900,000 for the city and $600,000 grant money for the county to reduce local taxpayer expense for Phase One.

Design work and cost estimates on Phase Two are still being developed, and it will likely be the spring of 2025 before all of Woodie Seat is again a community asset rather than an embarrassment.

The Kansas State Fair wants to close its money-losing racetrack in Hutchinson, with officials telling lawmakers that the area could be better used for a smaller dirt track and a money-saving permanent stage.

The 67th Hutchinson Grand Nationals Auto Races were held in July, and 2023 could have been the last year. Race fan efforts to convince the Kanas State Fair Board to reconsider its decision have since escalated.

“What they don’t understand is that, to have a facility like this, it costs a lot of money,” said Bryan Schulz, the fair’s general manager. “I’ve been doing a profit loss statements for the last few days that Rep. (Paul) Waggoner has requested. … It’s costing us way too much money to continue having that on the grounds.”

The Kansas State Fair racetrack loses money

When considering the fair’s revenues and expenses from the races and food and beverage, which are separate contracts, the fair stands to lose about $11,000 this year.

The races brought in about $63,000 in revenue, but the fair will lose about $12,000 after expenses. Food and drink brought in about $18,000, but expenses will bring the profit down to about $1,000.

“We can’t continue doing that,” Schulz said.

The Hutch nationals have three days of races, and the fairgrounds hosts zero races the rest of the year.

Schulz said the fair has not been approached by promoters in recent years to have more races at the fairgrounds. Additionally, were races to continue, “The track itself, it is in dire need of some updates.” Concrete wall panel replacements would cost at least $56,000, he said.

Racing fans want to save the Hutchinson racetrack

Schulz testified before the Legislative Budget Committee on Tuesday.

Rep. Troy Waymaster, R-Bunker Hill and chair of the House Appropriations Committee, said he has received a lot of emails about trying to keep the racetrack open.

So has the fair board, Schulz said, prompting the board to decide it will possibly revisit the topic after the fair.

“But again, no promoters have stepped up and said that they’re interested in keeping the track open and/or additional monies that it would take to bring that track up to speed,” Schulz said.

Schulz said there are no official attendance numbers. While the races are considered sellouts, he estimated there were a couple thousand empty seats out of 9,000 total when he stopped by.

Ending the races in Hutchinson discussed for almost 20 years

Removing the racetrack is not a new idea, Schulz said, with the fair board having discussed it after an incident in the 2000s and then again in the 2010s.

“In 2004, I believe, the board had made a decision to stop racing during the fair,” Schulz said. “Because I believe it was during one of their races, coming out of turn No. 3 into 4 a wheel flew off of one of the sprint cars, went over the wall, bounced several times and almost hit two young girls. So at that point in time, the board had made a decision to stop racing during the fair. They also started looking at the revenue streams that were coming in from this. We did not and do not have a promoter, other than the three days of the Hutch nationals.”

When Schulz was hired in 2021, the question of what to do with the racetrack area was brought to his attention.

The buildings and grounds committee in November recommended to the fair board that 2023 should be the last year of the Hutch nationals and racing at the fairgrounds.

“Because it is not being utilized,” he said. “It is about 18 acres that we could be putting into use of something else. It would just be the actual track itself. We would continue using a portion of it where the grandstand entertainment stage is set. But we will be able to use a lot more of the area where the actual track is for other purposes, including parking and other vendors during fair time.”

Here’s how the fair would redevelop the 18 acres

The fair already has an idea for how it would use the 18 acres where the racetrack sits.