Next phase of Kellogg construction expected to start in 2023. Here’s who that affects
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The next phase of Kellogg construction in Sedgwick and Butler counties is expected to begin within the next year, Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly announced Monday.
The project, funded by $230 million of state and federal money, aims to make improvements to the 3.7 miles of U.S. 54 from the K-96 interchange east to the Andover and Butler County border at 159th Street East.
At Andover City Hall on Monday, Kelly described the project as “the largest in terms of scope and size” of the 11 highway improvement projects slated to move forward in the first phase of construction as part of a 10-year, $750 million Eisenhower Legacy Transportation Program (IKE).
“For far too long, as you all so well know, going east from Butler County has been a headache,” Kelly said. “Too much traffic. Too many stops and starts that are endlessly frustrating. This project will solve those issues.”
Two to three years of construction will likely be required to complete the Kellogg upgrades, Kansas Department of Transportation Secretary Julie Lorenz said. KDOT expects to select a contractor this fall and expects Kellogg construction to begin in the spring or summer of 2023.
Andover City Council member Troy Tabor described the highway upgrade as “an exceptional, over-the-top wonderful event for the city of Andover.”
Upgrades will alleviate the Kellogg congestion that he said complicated the emergency response to the EF-3 tornado that devastated Andover and the surrounding area in late April.
“When the tornado happened, we needed to get emergency equipment across the highway,” Tabor said. “When this project is fully complete, we won’t have to stop and worry about fast traffic coming in. It will make it a lot more safe this way without cuing up hundreds of cars at stoplights every day during high traffic.”
Lorenz said construction is expected to begin on all 11 of the Phase 1 projects in the next three years.
The 25 highway improvement projects included in the IKE initiative were identified through KDOT’s public engagement efforts, which reached 2,500 Kansans. The department said in December that an unspecified number of Wichita-area residents selected Kellogg upgrades as the highest-priority project for the area.
KDOT’s survey process for the highway project got underway in late February. Lorenz said Wichita, Andover, Sedgwick County and Butler County have invested financially in the survey process to expedite the project but officials could not immediately provide a breakdown of contributions from local jurisdictions.
Other counties included in the first phase of the construction pipeline include Douglas, Ellis, Franklin, Erie, Miami, Morris, Osborne, Saline, Sheridan and Wabaunsee.
