$36 million contract to rebuild the worst part of Wichita’s worst freeway bottleneck
In a piece of good news for some long-suffering commuters, the state of Kansas has just accepted a $36.3 million bid to rebuild the worst part of Wichita’s worst freeway bottleneck — the North Junction interchange of I-135 and I-235.
The bid will allow Dondlinger Construction to start work next month on a flyover bridge linking northbound 135 to westbound 235, said Tom Hein, Wichita spokesman for the Kansas Department of Transportation.
“That’s really the bottleneck every night, with the loop ramp being such a tight turn and (drivers) having to weave into traffic from westbound 254,” Hein said.
If all goes as planned, construction of the flyover will begin in April and be finished in about three years.
“It’s a big bridge,” Hein said.
Sedgwick County Commission Chairman Pete Meitzner said it’s the most important piece of the project because of the congestion caused by the loop ramp, which makes motorists “go under everything and do a U turn at 20 mph” to get from freeway to freeway.
Wichita and Sedgwick County have put up about 25% of the construction cost with KDOT paying for the remaining 75%, plus engineering and land costs.
Meitzner said the project is a model of cooperation between the city, county and state governments.
“When we all come together . . . it works,” he said.
In addition to the flyover, the upcoming phase of construction will include reconstruction of the ramp linking southbound 135 to westbound 235.
It’s all part of a larger construction project to completely reconstruct the North Junction.
The complicated interchange connects the 135, 235 and K-254 freeways directly — and also ties into K-96 just to the south of the main junction.
The interchange has been a traffic nightmare for years, with bumper-to-bumper congestion in the evening rush hours as commuters try to make their way home to suburbs north and west of the city core.
The problem has been exacerbated by the construction of thousands of homes and businesses in Park City, Valley Center and northwest Wichita over the past 30 years.
The reconstruction project began in 2019. So far, it’s consisted mainly of preparing the approach lanes around the planned interchange.
It’s done little to relieve congestion and in some cases, the construction activity has made it worse.
Hein said when the upcoming phase is completed, motorists will experience a substantial improvement, much like they did when KDOT opened a similar flyover at the chronic problem interchange of 235 and the west Kellogg freeway in 2018.
During construction, the traffic patterns at the North Junction will remain about as they are now, Hein said.
The existing loop ramp linking northbound 135 to westbound 235 is well to the north of where the flyover construction will happen, so there’s no reason to shut it down until after the flyover is done, Hein said.
Wichita Mayor Brandon Whipple said the change at the interchange will do more than just improve the traffic flow.
“That type of money being spent locally is really going to improve our economy,” as the city recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic, he said.
Fixing the interchange will also remove a choke point between Wichita and a mammoth order-fulfillment center being developed by Amazon in Park City.
“Amazon is one of those companies that will be growing globally, so let’s do what we can to help them grow here,” Whipple said.
This story was originally published March 11, 2021 at 5:01 AM.
