The recent reconstruction on the roads at Ninth and Thurston took nearby residents by surprise. Kody Helms said the parking and general travel paths of nearby residents are negatively affected.

Helms, senior in marketing and professional strategic selling at Kansas State and a resident in the neighborhood, said that they did not receive a notice or warning of any sort prior to the construction. 

“It was a little inconvenient for parking space because our back parking lot is usually full, so to have to move them [vehicles] around from not being in the front anymore was kinda frustrating,” he said.

Helms said the city should prioritize their resources on the “high traffic highways” rather than residential areas. He believes that by doing that, the city will prevent inconvenience for others in the future. 

Another resident in the area, Reece Keller, master’s student in public health, had a different opinion from Helm’s regarding the city’s attention to road maintenance. 

“I think they are all city streets and they all need to be well kept, and it [the intersection] definitely needed attention,” Keller said. “I have noticed there are other roads that also need attention, but I am grateful that they did the construction.” 

Contrasting Helm’s disapproval of the absence of notification, Keller said not receiving notice prior to the roadwork wasn’t a crucial inconvenience to him.

“Truthfully, I could just go around the block,” Keller said. 

The City of Manhattan issued a post on Facebook sharing the results of the roadwork, which received comments from residents who had opinions on where the city should be prioritizing its roadwork. The post acknowledged future plans for more construction at Fifth and Fremont, Sixth and Fremont, and on Fifth Street from Fort Riley Boulevard to Yuma Street.