Got an opinion about K-96? KDOT wants to hear from you on proposed changes
A major highway in Wichita is set to undergo multiple large changes in the coming years and the public is invited to provide their insight.
New design proposals to the K-96 corridor between I-135 and I-35 will be unveiled at a Kansas Department of Transportation open house Thursday, Feb. 2, where the public can provide feedback on multiple concepts.
The redesigns are meant to increase the freeway’s capacity, relieve some traffic congestion and increase reliability.
According to a KDOT press release, the possible designs include:
- Expanding expanding the highway to six lanes
- Improving seven interchanges along K-96 at Hillside, Oliver, Woodlawn, Rock Road, Webb Road, Greenwich and East 21st Street
- Replacing pavement
“We’re looking for input from the public, of course, on what they think is good or bad about the preliminary design work,” Tom Hein, a KDOT spokesperson, said. “This is very preliminary, but we want to, we want to hear their comments early and often.”
The open house will be at the National Center for Aviation Training at 4004 N. Webb Road from 5 to 7 p.m. with a formal presentation at 6 p.m.
Those who can’t attend the meeting can visit the website k96improvements.com and provide feedback virtually.
“People right now are coming on to the website and they might throw down and make a comment about how bad this spot is, or something like that,” Hein said. “We want to hear those in person as well, but we have lots of options [for] people to interact with us and make comments on this project.”
Hein said as the project continues, there will be more public input meetings.
“We’ll see multiple meetings, where, ‘Hey, okay, here’s what this interchange is going to look like, this is what we’ve come to,’” he said. “And then eventually as we get close to that construction phase, we’d like to have a public meeting there so that we kind of talk about the impacts of traffic.”
According to the project’s website, construction is expected to begin as early as 2026. The goal is to get the designs finalized by 2024, but the timeline is subject to change.
Funding has not been allocated for the project yet. As a part of the Eisenhower Legacy Transportation project, funding cannot be allocated more than two years prior to the beginning of construction, according to a fact sheet found on the K-96 improvement project page.
This story may be updated.
This story was originally published January 31, 2023 at 12:58 PM.
