As promised in an earlier post (Are You People Crazy???) a large highway project is set to begin Monday, May 18 on U.S. 54/400 (Kellogg Avenue) at the I-135 Interchange.

Drivers will find traffic reduced to two lanes in each direction on Kellogg in the heaviest traveled corridor in Wichita. Plus, access from Kellogg to I-135 will be closed (beginning Wednesday, May 20) until the first phase of the project is completed in November.

Over 100,000 vehicles per day use Kellogg on the west side of the interchange and drivers should expect increased congestion in and around the construction zones. Message boards will be used to advise drivers of lane restrictions and ramp closures.

The bright side of this news is the amount of highway infrastructure that will be improved. During the first phase of the two-year project, the eastbound Kellogg bridge over Hydraulic St. will be completely replaced and repairs will be made to seven other bridges. These repairs vary on each bridge and include deck patching, driving surface improvements, new bridge approaches, work on bridge abutments (support structures at each end), new guard rail, expansion joint repair or replacement, polymer overlay on bridge shoulders, improved drainage systems on all bridges plus one bridge widening.

Additionally, the acceleration/deceleration lane from eastbound Kellogg to southbound I-135 will be extended from Lincoln St. to Harry St. and the two ramps from Kellogg to I-135 will be expanded to two lanes each.

Because access from Kellogg to I-135 will be closed, U.S. 54/400 traffic access to I-135 will be signed using I-235 as the detour.

The speed limit in the construction zone will be posted at 50 mph and increased enforcement will be provided by the Kansas Highway Patrol. Speed enforcement on Kellogg adjacent to the construction zones will continue to be provided by the Wichita Police Department.

The prime contractor for the nearly $20 million project is Wildcat Construction Co. Inc. of Wichita. A large number of subcontractor companies have also been hired to complete specialty construction operations. At times, double shifts will be used but crews will generally work Mondays through Saturdays from dawn to dusk.

Phase 2 of the project will begin in March 2010 and includes repairs on nine bridges, some in the interchange, one on Kellogg and some south of the interchange over I-135. Access from I-135 to U.S. 54/400 will be closed during Phase 2.

Hold on tight -- we're not crazy but we will bring madness to drivers at the busiest interchange in Wichita.

With $16.4 million of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds allotted for regional transportation projects by local governments in the Wichita metro, the Wichita Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (WAMPO) recently approved its list. In an attempt to stimulate many local economies, the funds were spread to six municipalities plus a project in an unincorporated area of Sedgwick County. Local match for the stimulus dollars is 10%.

1. Andover - S. Andover Rd. reconstruction, Cloud Ave. to Harry St. $1,234,800
2. Derby - Madison Ave. resurfacing. $472,500
3. Haysville - W. Grand Ave. resurfacing. $1,008,000
4. Park City - Broadway Bridge over Chisholm Creek. $1,890,000
5. Sedgwick County - Rock Rd. resurfacing, Pawnee to 63rd St. S. $2,070,000
6. Wichita - Broadway resurfacing, Central to 12th St. $486,000
7. Wichita - Hillside resurfacing, 9th to 12th. $864,000
8. Wichita - Hydraulic reconstruction, Kellogg to Harry. $2,970,000
9. Wichita - Maize Rd. reconstruction, Kellogg to Pawnee. $3,600,000
10. Wichita - Washington resurfacing, 1st to Central. $432,000
11. Valley Center - Ford St. Bridge. $1,350,000

Other Wichita metro projects announced by KDOT and not a part of this special allotment to WAMPO:

• I-135/47th St. S. Interchange
• Mulvane ped/bike path
• K & O Railroad siding in Sedgwick County

Spring snowstorms are not all that unusual in Kansas. But they certainly aren’t very welcomed either. A recent sleet and snow storm hit Wichita (and much of the state) in late March but I’d have to say, our metro area was very lucky.

On Thursday (the eve o’ the storm), maintenance crews were out doing their normal thing: one was patching concrete on an interstate ramp, another cleaned storm water drains on an elevated highway, one did dirt work on a roadside ditch and another was sanding drywall in a new meeting and training room. The Wichita TV media wanted footage of our crews prepping for the storm but alas, it was only in the last hour of the day that crews converted their dump trucks to snow plows.

That night we saw rain but it eventually turned to sleet. After about two or three inches of sleet and gropple, crews had the roads cleared of ice and slush but a layer of slickness remained. Late morning of day two brought heavy snow with a hard north wind. But a funny thing happened that afternoon – the sun came out and the storm was over! It still took a number of hours to clean up the highways but really, it was a pretty workable storm for our crews.

Not so much though for the surrounding counties. Freezing rain contributed to a number of crashes west, north, east and south of the Wichita metro. Virtually all highways to the west of Wichita were closed for at least a day. Pratt and Kingman counties accumulated over two feet of snow and some pretty huge snowdrifts.

KDOT’s 511 system performed valiantly but somewhere along the line sagged due to its popularity. Online viewing was hampered by extra-slow loading of highway condition maps and for some strange reason, our text list of Closed Highways gives a pretty good description of sections closed – it just forgets to list the highway number. Odd. The phone version of 511 was great even though some callers heard busy signals (switches at the phone company couldn’t handle the load). All this is being discussed and hopefully, fixed.

Follow-up to the storm will take a number of weeks. In the metro, crews have replaced signs and markers that were wiped out. Guardrail and light poles sometimes take a little longer to replace. We’re ready to get back to “normal” spring chores now – please.

Well, transportation projects just don’t happen like that – have a study, identify a solution, turn over dirt the next day. But recently, a final design for the I-135/47th St. Interchange, improvements to the 47th & Broadway intersection and access solutions along 47th St. was completed.

At a public meeting on February 19, these comments were heard:

·         “Looks great – this will be a tremendous improvement.”

·         “We appreciate the diligence on keeping this project moving along.”

·         “OK, let’s do it – when can you start?”

Financing this project, as with all new projects in Kansas lately, has been the stickler. After a fantastic ten-year Comprehensive Transportation Program, the current economic situation has not been conducive to adding new projects to the State’s financial pickle.

But along comes the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act. On February 20, Lt. Gov. Mark Parkinson and KDOT Sec. Deb Miller announced that the 47th St. project is one of four ready-to-go major projects for the State of Kansas. Specifically, they identified $23 million for the reconstruction and upgrade of the interchange to remove the bottleneck and to provide a link to an underutilized area (read: economic development).

“OK, let’s do it – when can you start?”

The plan now is for the City of Wichita to acquire the necessary right-of-way and to have utility companies move their hardware if it is in the construction zone. In the mean time, KDOT’s road design team will continue their work with a consultant to iron out the last details of the construction process. If everything goes along without a hitch, the project may be let in June (bids from contractors will be opened). A few weeks after that, a contract could be signed and the dirt could be turned.

OK, let’s do it – now we can start!

I had a few (understatement) phone calls in the last few days and many of them started with similar questions. Why in the world would you (KDOT) want to close the ramps that link U.S 54/400 (the Kellogg Freeway through Wichita) with I-135? Are you plotting ways to make life more miserable for drivers? Are you people crazy?

Well, while I can’t write for all of us at KDOT, I’m pretty sure we’re not crazy and we’re not plotting against drivers. We are, however, responsible for the care and feeding of 10,000 miles of the state highway system and we intend to maintain the current highway infrastructure as well as make improvements for the future.

On February 18, at the monthly letting shindig, KDOT will open bids from contractors interested in making improvements to the I-135 & Kellogg Interchange. And as soon as we can get a signed contract, the “winner” of the contract will start the nine-month process of repairing 11 bridge decks, completely replacing one bridge, expanding four ramps, adding a ¼-mile lane extension on southbound I-135 plus complete a number of other repairs.

To facilitate the multi-location repairs within the interchange – one that handles up to 100,000 vehicles/day – some closures are necessary. The project is divided into two phases. In a nutshell, here’s what’s planned:

March – July Phase 1

• All Kellogg to I-135 access CLOSED
• I-235 will be official, marked detour for US-54 to I-135 traffic
• EB & WB Kellogg will be reduced to two lanes for each direction
• Through traffic on I-135 will not be affected
• I-135 access to Kellogg will be open
• Lane expansion – SB I-135 between Lincoln & Harry

July – November Phase 2

• All I-135 to Kellogg access CLOSED
• I-235 will be official, marked detour for I-135 to US-54 traffic
• EB & WB Kellogg reduction to two lanes for each direction will continue
• Through traffic on I-135 will not be affected
• Kellogg access to I-135 will be open

If you call me about this project, please feel free to begin the conversation with “Are you people crazy???” That way I’ll know immediately what project you want to discuss.

After years of ITS in major metro areas, Wichita will soon see the benefits of more efficient travel by using the ever-expanding opportunities of new technology. Usually transportation planners speak of adding capacity via more lanes or a completely new highway. Instead of that approach, we are adding features that will allow drivers to make more intelligent travel decisions on our current system of state highways.

So, what the heck is ITS anyway? In the words of the ITS pros who had to come up with an explanation for the rest of us:

Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) is the use of electronics, computers, sensors, communications and management strategies to improve roadway safety and transportation system efficiency.

In 1998, that’s right 1998, a multi-jurisdictional governmental committee (a bunch of Kreskins from KDOT, City of Wichita, Sedgwick County and other places) released a seldom-read report that outlined ITS for ICT.

In early 2009, their work blooms and a test project will begin. Six closed-circuit cameras will be installed on 45’ wooden poles at three interchanges: I-135/I-235/K-96/K-254 (the North Junction), I-135/U.S. 54 (E. Kellogg) and I-235/U.S. 54 (W. Kellogg). Six portable variable message boards will be used near these interchanges to advise drivers of traffic problems.

Possibly the best part of the test project is the creation of the Traffic Management Center (TMC). It will house all of the technology that will process the data from the field. It will be managed by KDOT with staffing assistance from Sedgwick County Emergency Communications 911 operators (a very efficient partnership).

What will we see starting in 2010 when this test project plays out and we get to Phase 1 of the real deal?

·        28 closed-circuit cameras on 60’ metal poles

·        14 permanent dynamic message signs

·        36 vehicle detectors providing traffic density & speed info

·        M-F 6am-7pm Traffic Management Center

·        A website sharing lots of this traffic info

·        Coverage of about 20 miles of Wichita’s freeway system

Twitter.com is a free social networking & micro-blogging service using text-based posts (tweets) of up to 140 characters in length.

Tweets tell a story in 140 characters or less. And characters = spaces, punctuation & letters of each word too. Must be succinct.

Twitter is used by friends, businesses, non-profit orgs, political campaigns, schools, elected officials, govt agencies – even KDOT!

You might ask, “can a story really be told in only 140 characters?” Maybe, maybe not. It depends on how much of the story you choose to cut.

Recent post: Concrete patching today 9am-3pm on NB I-235 btwn Zoo & 25th St. North. Expect right lane closure.

Doesn’t tell: Hired crew, bought trucks, supplies, EO training, traffic control, ANSI 2004, jackhammerg, cure time, Crew Card, danger, etc.

Recent post: KDOT crews out all night but expect snowpacked conditions in metro. Some ramps bad. Leave early - use caution. 3" on ground.

Doesn’t tell: Away frm family, not normal sleep hrs, 12-hr shift, dispatcher, mechanic, try to conserve salt/diesel, supervisor nervous, etc.

Recent post: W. U.S. 54 at 135th St. W will open to two lanes each direction + left turns allowed on Tuesday, Nov. 11.

Doesn’t tell: Project is 1st step of freeway, corridor mgmt., road/br. design, inspectors inspect everythg., protected left turns = safer

Recent post: 511 reports: Most highways NE of Emporia spotty to completely snowpacked/icy. http://511.ksdot.org

Doesn’t tell: Subareas report conditns, gotta keeps servers up, each change monitored, recordings made, 24/7 coverage, lots of bckgrd work.

Recent post: Previously suspended K-61 project in Reno Co. bids to be opened Feb. 4. Hutch to McPher. Co., 9 miles, 4 lanes, $58M est.

Doesn’t tell: CTP negotiatns, planning, design work, “kitchen table” discuss, ROW acq., ready to go, $ angst, STOP, prices?, okay to let…

Recent post: Want to comment on I-70 through downtown KC? Missouri DOT hosting online public mtg: http://www.modot.org/kansascity/metroi70/

Doesn’t tell: Should we post about things in an adjacent state? Yes, our citizens should make comments – they drive there too.

Recent post: EB U.S. 54 at Hillside (to Oliver) CLOSED due to crash. Overhead sign structure hit - being removed. To be closed >1 hour.

Doesn’t tell: Sign not safe, remove or repair?, borrowed sign frm a project, Sunday pm work by expert KDOT crew, lucky it fit, road opened.

Can KDOT tell its story in 140 characters? Yes. And no. We can share info with customers but can’t give the whole story. Whoops – that’s 140…