Cotillion patrons could see traffic changes with stoplight gone

Drivers likely will soon see one less stoplight on West Kellogg. And customers of the Cotillion Ballroom could see a big change in how they get in and out of the 2,000-seat concert venue at the west edge of Wichita.

The City Council on Tuesday will consider removing the light at 111th Street West and Kellogg, the main entrance to and exit from the Cotillion.

City officials hope that eliminating the traffic signal will alleviate backups that occur at 111th Street during morning and evening rush hours, said Public Works Director Alan King. The change would happen later this year or early next year.

The move also is expected to help improve safety and reduce the number of accidents caused when drivers who don’t expect a red light at 111th Street end up rear-ending cars stopped at the light, he said.

The intersection at 111th Street now marks the western boundary of the freeway portion of Kellogg.

Moving that west to 119th Street would eliminate what is now an unexpected traffic signal, which can be hard to see over the rise where Kellogg crosses over Maize Road, said Mike Armour, special projects engineer for the city.

According to a staff report, the crash rate at 111th Street is about six times the crash rate at 119th Street.

In the stoplight’s place would be be elongated right- and left-turn lanes on the westbound side of Kellogg.

Instead of turning directly into the Cotillion at 111th, people going to shows there would have to exit at Maize Road and get to the venue via the frontage road on the north side of Kellogg.

When a concert ends, all outgoing traffic would turn right out of the Cotillion onto a new on-ramp to Kellogg. Those who want to go east back into the city would have to merge over into the left-turn lane at 119th and then make a U-turn at that light.

The turn lanes on westbound Kellogg at 119th would be lengthened from about 500 feet to approximately 1,000 feet to create more space for people to make their turns without backing up into the traffic lanes, Armour said.

Richard Leslie, owner of the Cotillion, said he does not oppose the change and hopes it would help ease traffic flow out of his business.

At present, the outgoing traffic forms a bottleneck. Customers have to queue up and wait through multiple cycles of the traffic light at 111th to get everybody onto the road home.

“Our thinking is the parking lot will empty a lot faster,” he said. “That’s what we’re hoping, anyway.”

Construction of the lengthened turn lanes and the on-ramp is expected to be completed by late this year or early next year.

Initially, the intersection at 111th would be closed off using temporary barricades, and the traffic light would be hooded but not immediately removed.

That would allow for a test period to see whether the traffic flows more smoothly, King said.

If it doesn’t work as planned, the city could turn the traffic light back on. It wouldn’t be wasted work, because the lengthened turn lanes at 119th would still help alleviate congestion for motorists turning off of Kellogg there, he said.

“We’ve modeled it,” he said. “We think it will help. If it doesn’t, this can all be unwound.”

This story was originally published June 12, 2017 at 5:46 PM with the headline "Cotillion patrons could see traffic changes with stoplight gone."