A new project began June 25 on I-135 from 37th Street to 101st St. North. It involves bridge work and major pavement renovation. Traffic will be reduced to a single lane at times and the speed limit will be reduced to 60 mph through the entire work zone -- slower speeds (50 mph) will be posted whenever workers are present or lanes are closed. Pavement patching has moved to the southbound lanes of I-135. Expect single lane closures Monday -- Friday, 9 am until 6 am the next day.

The 2014 KDOT Annual Report is available for your review.

The City of Wichita project adding two ramps to the K-96 & Greenwich interchange has the right lane of both bridges (eastbound and westbound K-96) closed until October. The EB K-96 ramp to Greenwich Road will remain open. The work includes an exit ramp for WB K-96 to Greenwich and an entrance ramp from Greenwich to EB K-96.

KDOT is blogging! Read the (almost) daily entries.

The WICHway website offers great camera views, traffic speeds and information from message boards PLUS it is smart phone-ready! See our short video on how to bookmark it on You Tube. See the website at www.WICHway.org.

The four-year construction of the East Kellogg Freeway from Cypress to Wiedemann including the interchange for Webb Road and the KTA, has been put on hold while a redesign is discussed.

KanDrive, www.kandrive.org, is a valuable web portal that provides info on weather, highway conditions and construction plus camera views from around the state.

Check out the postings on Facebook from Wichita KDOT.

KDOT activities in the Wichita Metro.

You can view all scheduled transportation work in Kansas and create a custom project list with maps at the T-WORKS website.

MAP-21 (Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century) is the two-year (through Federal FY 2014) $105 billion federal transportation program. Read the summary.

The City of Wichita's weekly traffic report and maintenance project updates are online at the City's Public Works site. Click on “Major Construction Projects for Streets & Buildings” to view the current PDF (updated weekly).

A passenger rail Service Development Plan can be viewed as a 163-page pdf document at KDOT's Passenger Rail page.

Wildflowers and prairie grasses were planted in April 2011 at the I-135 & Kellogg interchange. A dormant planting of wildflower seed was also made at the I-135/I-235/K-96/K-254 interchange in November 2010. Patience...

Beeline Express, a bus service serving Wichita to Salina (two roundtrips/day) and Wichita to Pueblo, Colorado (one trip/day) began in November 2010 .

Preliminary engineering has begun for the redesign of the I-135/I-235/K-96/K-254 interchange (right).

These are cool: Historic State Maps of Kansas. The first highway map is from 1918.

The first phase (Red Project) of the I-235 & U.S. 54 Interchange rebuild doesn't begin until 2015 but you can read about it now at www.235kelloggcentral.com.

The Amtrak Feasibility Study for expanded passenger rail service (including restoration of service to Wichita) is available for your review. A number of helpful documents are posted at www.ksdot.org (scroll down to Amtrak News). 

An enhanced 511 Mobile application is available at http://511mm.ksdot.org.

Can the Wichita Metro Statistical Area (Sedgwick, Butler, Harvey & Sumner counties) stay in compliance with federal air quality standards? Check the metro Air Quality Index for particulate matter, ozone and carbon monoxide.

If you use the Kansas Turnpike a lot, you might want to subscribe to their text messaging service. Info on weather, road conditions and crash-related traffic problems are sent to your phone. Sign up >>

K-TAG is the Kansas Turnpike Authority's electronic tolling program. You can save 15% and breeze through the toll plaza without stopping. Easy to purchase (online or at several retail outlets) and easy to use. Read about the two K-TAG options.

Current Projects

Click on the tab for details on current projects.

Two SB I-135 Bridges

2 SB I-135 bridges, S. Hydraulic & MacArthur
Start date: August 4 or 18
Completion: October
Contract amount: $389,987.50
Prime contractor: Wildcat Construction, Wichita
Scope of work: Polymer overlays and bridge patching under Hydraulic bridge..
Special notes: Daytime work in August on bridge underside repairs at Hydraulic. Polymer overlays on both bridges in September during evening and overnight hours.

I-135, 37th to 85th

I-135, 37th St. N. to 85th St. N.
Start date: June 23
Completion: August 2015
Contract amount: $20,051,529.07
Prime contractor: Cornejo & Sons, Wichita
Scope of work: Major highway rehabilitation includes mill and overlay of driving lanes, bridge repairs & other work
Special notes: Single lane closures for pavement patching will occur in the initial project work.

I-235 at 13th St.

Ramps added for NB I-235 to 13th St. & 13th St. to SB I-235
Start date: Dec. 3, 2012
Completion: November 26, 2014
Contract amount: $23,111,124.58
Prime contractor: Dondlinger & Sons Construction Co., Wichita
Scope of work: Improvements to 13th & Windmill Road and two new I-235 ramps with bridges over the Big Ditch.
Special notes: Sponsored by the City of Wichita (funds from sales tax used for design and construction). Speed reduction (50 mph) on I-235, Central to Zoo Blvd.

2 NB I-235 Bridges

NB I-235 Bridges over Gold & West streets
Start date: July 14
Completion: August
Contract amount: $986,877.70
Prime contractor: PCI Roads, St. Michael, MN
Scope of work: Minor bridge deck patching and polymer overlays
Special notes: Night work, 7 pm -- 6 am. When working on the right lane of the Gold St. bridge, the entrance ramp to NB I-235 from MacArthur Rd. will be closed. 

U.S. 54 Ark River Bridge

U.S. 54 Bridge west of downtown Wichita
Start date: October 14
Completion: August
Contract amount: $986,877.70
Prime contractor: PCI Roads, St. Michael, MN
Scope of work: Repair of support structure inside of bridge.
Special notes: Lane and ramp closures likely to resume after Wichita RiverFest

K-42 Overlay

K-42, K-49 Junction to Hoover Road
Start date: June
Completion: July
Contract amount: $3,783,447.46
Prime contractor: Cornejo & Sons, Wichita
Scope of work: Asphalt mill and overlay, restriping
Special notes: Single lane closures during the day.

K-254 Overlay

K-254, Woodlawn to Butler Co. line
Start date: April 15
Completion: June 20
Contract amount: $2,007,130.75
Prime contractor: Cornejo & Sons, Wichita
Scope of work: Mill of old asphalt surface then an asphalt overlay on driving lanes and shoulders.
Special notes: Project completed.

U.S. 54 Patching

U.S. 54, Ridge to Washington
Start date: July 17
Completion:
Contract amount: $1,213,032.51
Prime contractor: Diamond Surface, Rogers MN
Scope of work: Concrete patching, surface grinding and striping on concrete portions (not including bridges)
Special notes: Night work. Lane closures 7 pm -- 6 am.

I-135 Striping

I-135, 85th St. N. to 125th St. N.
Start date: June 16
Completion: July
Contract amount: $282,490.91
Prime contractor: RoadSafe Traffic Systems, El Dorado
Scope of work: Permanent striping
Special notes: Daytime single lane and ramp closures.

E. K-96 Striping

K-96, I-135 to U.S. 54
Start date: Late summer
Completion: Fall
Contract amount: $548,613.90
Prime contractor: RoadSafe Traffic Systems, El Dorado
Scope of work: Replacement of permanent pavement markings (striping, lane skips, turn arrows, etc.)
Special notes: Night work.

Future Projects

Click on the tab for details on future Wichita projects.

I-235 & Kellogg

I-235 & U.S. 54 Interchange, Phase 1
Bids Open: Sept. 2015
Construction Starts: Late 2015
Scope of work: First phase of interchange reconstruction includes two-lane flyover ramp for SB I-235 to EB Kellogg, a one-lane flyover ramp for NB I-235 to WB Kellogg and auxiliary lanes for I-235 from U.S. 54 to Central St.
More info: The Red Project at www.235kelloggcentral.com

Kellogg & Webb

Kellogg Freeway from Kansas Turnpike to east of Webb Road
Bids Open:
Construction Starts: ???
Scope of work: Construction of freeway from Eastern St. to 1/2 mile east of Webb Road.
More info: Multi-year project.

Kellogg, Webb to Greenwich

Kellogg Freeway from east of Webb Rd. to east of Greenwich Rd.
Bids Open: Not scheduled
Construction Starts: ?
Scope of work: Construction of U.S. 54/400 freeway continues with an interchange at Greenwich Road.
More info:

West Kellogg

Frontage roads for Kellogg Freeway (U.S. 54) between 135th St. W. & 151st St. W.
Bids Open:
Construction Starts:
Scope of work: Construction of frontage roads.
More info:

NW Bypass

K-254 from Maize to Goddard
Bids Open: Not scheduled
Construction Starts: ?
Scope of work: A freeway connecting K-96 at Tyler Road to U.S. 54 east of 183rd St. West
More info: Some right-of-way has been acquired but funds are not currently available to construct this project.

More news:

75 mph speed limit signs are in place on 807 miles of Kansas highways. See the map of 75 mph routes in Kansas.

Hard to argue with this: 2001 - 2010 was the greatest decade ever for Kansas transportation. See KDOT's decade report.

Keep Right, Pass Left. A Kansas law requires that drivers on roadways outside of cities, with two or more lanes in the same direction, must drive in the right lane unless they are making a left turn or passing another vehicle (fine is $60 + court costs).

Put the phone down and drive! Kansas joins 29 other states: drivers caught writing, sending or reading a text message while on a public road or highway = $60 fine + court costs.

Going fishing? Kansas Department of Wildlife & Parks provides weekly fishing updates and KDOT has a couple of public access lakes at Hydraulic and 45th St. North. Here are maps to many of Sedgwick County's fishing locations.