Public invited to meeting on K-96 improvements project

WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) - The Kansas Department of Transportation, U.S. DOT Federal Highway Administration and the City of Wichita are hosting a public meeting from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 2, to unveil design concepts for the K-96 corridor between I-135 and I-35. The meeting will be held at the National Center for Aviation Training (Building 300), 4004 N. Webb Road in Wichita (at Colonel James Jabara Airport, WSU Tech). It is across from the Administration Center plaza (Building 100), and free parking is available.

The meeting will be an open house format, with a formal presentation starting at 6 p.m. Attendees can review proposed design concepts for the K-96 corridor, which include expanding the highway from four to six lanes, replacing pavement and improving seven interchanges along K-96 at Hillside Street, Oliver, N. Woodlawn Boulevard., N. Rock Road, N. Webb Road, Greenwich Road and E. 21st Street N.

In addition to design concepts, the design team is also exploring the environmental review to assess environmental, economic and social impacts. Public input is requested on the findings from both the design and environmental review work.

KDOT says expanding this portion of K-96 to six lanes will help ease congestion as it is expected to carry up to 100,000 vehicles a day by 2050. This project is currently in the IKE development pipeline.