Bridge repairs to block off part of Pawnee

Starting Monday, Wichita drivers wanting to travel on the Pawnee Street bridge west of Broadway will have to take a detour.

Pawnee will be closed between Broadway and McLean through late 2016 while the bridge over the Arkansas River is repaired.

The $3 million project will repair a patchy deck and structural issues on the bridge, which was built in 1961, said Steve Degenhardt, construction division manager for the city Department of Public Works and Utilities. The bridge was last repaired in the 1990s.

“The deck is in some bad shape as well as some of the bridge abutments, so it needs repair in order to safely carry traffic,” Degenhardt said.

Local traffic on Pawnee will be allowed west of Broadway for access to residential areas, but other traffic will detour to South 31st Street at Broadway and McLean.

“It’s going to be an inconvenience for people who primarily use that route,” Degenhardt said.

This story was originally published June 10, 2016 at 1:32 PM with the headline "Bridge repairs to block off part of Pawnee."