KDOT construction includes 19 Sedgwick County projects

CREATED Nov. 15, 2012

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Among the 430 projects listed in the Kansas Department of Transportation's $1.1 billion announcement are several for the Wichita area. 

One may catch the eye of motorists by the end of the year.

"We've got three big expansion projects that are more in the future because they're so big - although one of them happens to be I-235 and 13th Street, which we hope to start next month," said Tom Hein, KDOT public affairs manager. 

Hein said the I-235 and 13th St. project will not affect drivers too much until it gets closer to completion. When finished, it will help relieve traffic congestion on I-235 and Zoo Blvd. Exit ramps will take traffic from northbound I-235 to westbound 13th St., as well as eastbound 13th St. to southbound I-235.

An extension of the Kellogg Freeway is also planned east of Webb Rd. Hein said it is about a mile, "but a very complicated mile" because of the Kansas Turnpike Authority toll plaza and Webb Rd. 

"I think it's going to take another year or two of design work, right of way acquisition, utilities need to be moved," he said. "That's the process that holds up so many of these transportation projects."

Hein said that once started, the interchange would take five years to complete. During that time, traffic would be "cumbersome," but two-lane traffic should be maintained.

The first of four phases of construction on the Kellogg and I-235 interchange is expected to start in 2015. Hein said design work is nearly complete. 

There were 19 projects announced for Sedgwick County. 

"This is a pretty big announcement," Hein said. "Some of them are pretty big projects, but the bulk of this is just preservation projects to keep the system in line."

The projects are part of the T-WORKS transportation program. Click here for a complete list of construction projects