When you look at the next phase of Kellogg construction happening in our quaint state of Kansas, you have to trust that the overall accessibility of Sedgwick and Butler counties will improve in the next year. Kansas Governor Laura Kelly said so on Monday. The project itself is getting funding of about $230 million from federal and state money. Generally, when you note what the aim is for the improvements, you can see them being done about 3.7 miles away from the United States Route 54. This will affect the K96 interchange, just east of the Butler and Andover County border over at 159th Street East.
In a public statement at Andover City Hall, Governor Kelly called the project “the largest in terms of scope and size” of eleven current highway improvement projects. All of these projects will continue into the first phase of construction. They’ll also involve the Eisenhower Legacy Transportation Program. It’s about a ten-year and $750 million dollar project.
Even the governor herself has said that this interchange is too busy. A lot of traffic, a lot of stops and no resolution to those issues. It should be anything but a headache to go east from Butler County onwards. So that’s why the construction on this interchange is so important, as it will require completion of the Kellogg upgrades. Kansas Department of Transportation Secretary Julie Lorenz believes that the KDOT is expecting to snag a contractor during the fall. This is held with expectations for Kellogg construction to start in the spring or summer of 2023. One City Council member from Andover, Troy Tabor, said the highway upgrade would be great for the city of Andover.
Wichita Will Benefit From the Construction Projects
Experts believe that upgrades are going to alleviate the Kellogg congestion by a means that will keep emergency scenarios less complicated. The EF-3 tornado is exactly what caused so much destruction, being that the area was difficult to exit due to very, very bad traffic. Because fast traffic incoming won’t be so much of a concern anymore, emergency equipment will be much easier to access whenever another tornado happens.
Certainly, construction on all eleven of these Phase 1 projects is to begin in 2023 and continue for the next three years. Of the 25 highway improvement projects involved in the IKE initiative, these eleven were identified via KDOT public engagement efforts. Of course, the department made it known way back in December that an unspecified number of Wichitans had chosen Kellogg upgrades to be their highest-priority projects. The survey process for KDOT’s highway project went underway in late February. More counties will be involved when the construction pipeline continues.
It’s all pretty exciting to know how much the area is improving as far as urban planning goes. This may be crucial for the further development of better traffic in Wichita and other commuter areas of Kansas. Among the many other improvements this will bring, reduced traffic will make moving a car that much easier!