Kansas governor Jeff Colyer joined local officials Tuesday for the announcement of a project to improve interstate highway traffic in north Wichita.
The $65 million project will replace aging pavement and structurally deficient bridges over the Little Arkansas River. It will also replace obsolete bridges over Arkansas Avenue and Broadway Avenue, and it will add continuous auxiliary lanes on I-235. The ramp configuration will also be improved at the I-235 and Broadway interchange. The Seneca Street bridge over I-235 will be removed and Meridian will be connected to Seneca by a new local roadway.
Governor Colyer said the project will be an important first step in efforts to deal with the congestion on the interstate system. Bids will go out in January and construction should begin in March. The work should be completed in 2021.
The I-235 project is considered to be the first phase of a long-range project to improve the interchange known as the North Junction, which connects I-135, I-235, K-96 and K-254. Wichita and Sedgwick County officials are working with the Kansas Department of Transportation and state lawmakers to get the project added to a ten-year highway program.
The photo shows, left to right, Sedgwick County commission chairman David Dennis, Kansas Transportation Secretary Richard Carlson, Governor Jeff Colyer (behind Carlson), and Wichita vice mayor Bryan Frye.
