If you drive south on I-135 into Wichita on Saturday, you’ll face a detour. Here’s why

A highway bridge demolition will disrupt Wichita motorists’ travels on the North Junction on Saturday.

The Kansas Department of Transportation will close southbound I-135 at westbound K-254/southbound I-235 from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. while an adjacent bridge is torn down.

Traffic will be detoured onto southbound I-235 to Broadway and onto northbound I-235 to southbound I-135.

“It’s all part of the construction process and some of these things can’t be avoided,” said Tom Hein, KDOT’s Wichita spokesperson.

“I’d like to think that people are getting used to that, but if you’re an occasional visitor to the North Junction and you find your direct route closed, that’s an inconvenience. We recognize that.”

The three-year North Junction project is designed to alleviate congestion at the north Wichita interchange where the I-35 and I-235 freeways and state highways K-96 and K-254 all come together in a tangle of ramps and loops.

“The phase that’s active right now will finish in 2023,” Hein said. “I think that probably in early fall, we’ll be driving on the new northbound I-135 to southbound 235.”

But another subphase of the North Junction fix will get underway in early February.

“We won’t see a lot of traffic impacts right away,” Hein said. “There’s a part of that project that builds a direct access road or highway from northbound 235, which is also eastbound K-96, and K-96 traffic will be able to exit 235 and have their own highway down to the east leg of K-96, which is about a half mile or a mile south of the North Junction.”

This story was originally published January 27, 2023 at 12:33 PM.