Gov. Laura Kelly joined Transportation Secretary Julie Lorenz to announce a $750 million highway improvement plan, which calls for $166 million in upgrades to the Kellogg freeway in Wichita. Kelly announced the highway modernization and expansion Wednesday that will serve as the next phase in a series of upcoming improvements to Kellogg.
The project scope will reconstruct a bottleneck at the interchange between Kellogg Avenue and K-96, including expanding Kellogg to a 6- lane freeway. The project is a part of the state administration’s 10-year Eisenhower Legacy Transportation Program (IKE) and includes 25 highway projects across the state, paid for with local and federal dollars.
The announcement clears the way for preliminary engineering work to begin on these projects, located in every region of the state.
“This is a pressing issue because by addressing the congestion at the north junction interchange, a significant bottleneck has been shifted to the new area,” she said. “This was identified as the highest priority project in the Wichita Local Consult discussions and addresses route continuity. ”
The 25 projects selected for Kelly’s $750 million plan were identified through public engagement activities conducted by the Kansas Department of Transportation. KDOT’s public participation method for the IKE initiative is the Local Consult. It is held every two years to obtain feedback from Kansans on a list of proposed regional growth and upgrading projects. Additionally, it is a chance to establish local collaborations, gain a better understanding of which KDOT programs are most important to communities, and solicit comments on how we might enhance service delivery.
In a news release, Kelly said the projects will “improve safety, expand economic development opportunities, and strengthen our communities.” “My administration is committed to making short- and long-term infrastructure improvements to benefit future generations of Kansans — just as we rely on investments made by previous generations of Kansans,” she said.
Secretary Lorenz said the recently passed trillion-dollar federal infrastructure bill would provide Kansas roughly $145 million a year for the next five years to be used on highways and bridges.
You can find a list and of the new IKE development pipeline projects here.
More information is available at www.ksdotike.org.