Here’s how to navigate the Amidon bridge detour for the next 14 months

Wichita commuters on Monday got their first taste of what traffic will be like for at least the next 14 months as the replacement of the Amidon Bridge gets underway.

The 60-year-old bridge, which spans the riverbend at 18th Street, was fully closed Monday. Northbound Amidon traffic has been rerouted since mid-September for utility work.

During construction, the city is recommending westbound detours to West Street for traffic on 13th and 21st Streets. The nearly 4-mile detour takes 6 minutes to drive in normal traffic, compared with 2 minutes from 13th to 21st over the bridge.

According to city data, an average of 16,500 vehicles travel over the aging four-lane Amidon Bridge every day.

Signage along the detour route directs commuters to businesses at the busy 21st and Amidon intersection, which includes five grocery stores, four pharmacies, a DMV office, a fire station, a workforce center, two health care facilities and more than a dozen restaurants.

Residents of Indian Hills Riverbend and other neighborhoods south of the bridge who need help accessing these key services can make use of a new Wichita Transit bus route that will remain free during construction. The alternate route utilizes 17th and West Street.

In response to concerns about Wichita Fire Department response times being impacted by the closure, a temporary fire station has been set up near 13th Street and West Street to respond to emergencies in residential neighborhoods south of the bridge and at the Meridian Rehabilitation and Health Care Center at 15th and Meridian.

The Wichita City Council originally approved funding of the new bridge design in January 2021 but heard considerable concerns from community members about the impact a prolonged closure would have on access to services, public safety and local businesses.

After a second round of community input where city engineers explained how keeping one or two lanes of traffic open during construction would affect the project cost and timeline, the City Council opted to move forward with a full closure.

Engineers say December 2023 is the earliest the major bridge could reopen to commuters, but supply chain issues may extend the project into 2024.

This story was originally published October 3, 2022 at 2:33 PM.