10 February 2023
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — If you drive along Kellogg at the airport exit, you may have noticed rusty railings along the ramps and broken concrete slabs on some of the abutments.
For visitors who fly into Wichita’s Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport, the Kellogg and Eisenhower Airport Parkway interchange is one of the first images they will see of Wichita from their car. It is also one of the last images they will see before they fly home.
The Wichita Department of Public Works and Utilities says there are problems beyond the looks of the interchange. The department wants the City Council to approve applying for federal grant money to fix some issues.
According to department officials, the obsolete design of the interchange and the increase in traffic are leading to “operational inefficiency and safety issues. The interchange is used by travelers, the Postal Service, FedEx, UPS, several aviation businesses and manufacturers, as well as hotel, restaurant and store customers.
The City also notes that the north airport campus has aging infrastructure and challenges that limit economic development. There’s also no transit service and limited bike and pedestrian access.
On Tuesday, the City Council will be asked to authorize a grant application of $3 million — $2.4 million would come from the federal Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) Grant program; the rest is $600,000 of a required local match.
If Wichita gets the grant, the funds would be used to study and redesign the interchange for better traffic flow and safety. According to a project scope map from the City, it would go beyond the interchange to include adjacent surface streets.
Click the image for a larger view. (Courtesy City of Wichita)
The study would also look at drainage area enhancements, transit facilities, electric vehicle charging stations, multimodal opportunities, and recommendations for more development in the area.
The City says the required local match of $600,000 would come from a combination of the existing budget and the 2023-2032 Capital Improvement Program funds for the Kellogg and Eisenhower Parkway aesthetics improvements project.
The RAISE grants winners are expected to be announced in the fall.
If the City Council approves the grant request, if the City wins the grant, and if the study is completed, there would be another grant application for construction costs.