19 September 2023
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — The Wichita City Council approved spending money to restripe part of West 21st Street North on Tuesday.
Wichita City Council Member Bryan Frye said people contacted him because they were concerned about 21st Street between 119th Street West and the Northwest YMCA. The road is currently two lanes with wide shoulders.
“Neighbors in that area have witnessed multiple traffic accidents, including a couple of deaths recently,” he said. “They approached me and said, ‘What can we get done to make this safer?’ Cars were using the shoulder to navigate around people waiting to make left turns, which made it dangerous for bikes and pedestrians.”
City staff looked into the problem. The solution involves turning the road into three lanes. The middle lane will be for left turns. The city says there will still be some shoulder room.
A city spokesperson says the restriping work on 21st Street could start as early as this week and will take no more than three weeks to complete.