A tangled Webb Road of detours

Traffic on East Kellogg is about to take several turns for the worse with detours at and around Webb Road starting Monday, to allow the state to remove a bridge to make way for a new one.

The detours are part of a project to replace a highway bridge near Kellogg and Webb and widen the road to a six-lane freeway from Webb to the K-96 interchange. Completion is expected in 2021.

The demolition work will trigger rolling detours at and around the site that will start Monday and continue until the completion of the project.

Here’s the initial detour plan, according to Wichita traffic officials.

▪ Beginning Monday, drivers heading east on Kellogg won’t be able to turn left onto Webb Road, a popular route for commuters who live on the far east side and work in the city. While the left turns are prohibited, there will be a U-turn turnaround on Kellogg about a half-mile east of Webb. So eastbound motorists who want to go north on Webb will have to go past Webb and then backtrack.

▪ From Nov. 28 to Dec. 2, all drivers coming off the Kansas Turnpike at the interchange between Rock and Webb roads will be funneled into an eastbound Kellogg access road.

Those want to go west on Kellogg will have to go past Webb and use the turnaround. Westbound motorists who want to get on the turnpike will have to go past it and on to Rock Road, then backtrack east to get to the toll booths.

▪ The biggest detours will begin the night of Dec. 2 and continue until the morning of Dec. 5, while the bridge is being demolished. For that weekend, eastbound motorists will be detoured at Rock and proceed south to Harry. From there, they will head east on Harry and then north on Webb to get back to eastbound Kellogg.

Westbound motorists will detour north on Webb to Central, proceed west on Central, and then turn south on Rock to get back to westbound Kellogg.

▪ Once the bridge is down, the traffic pattern will revert to the detours as they were from Nov. 28 to Dec. 2.

You can look through the accompanying maps to see how the detours will evolve over the course of the bridge demolition.

This story was originally published November 18, 2016 at 8:18 AM with the headline "A tangled Webb Road of detours."