Wichita city leaders call it the most important thing to look into when it comes to its roads
The north junction interchange — where I-135, I-235, K-96 and K-254 meet — can get congested, especially during rush hour. Wichita City Engineer Gary Janzen says the interchange, built nearly 50 years ago, won’t be able to handle traffic demands as that daily congestion is only expected to worsen.
“We’ve known for some time that there’s a lot of issues with congestion and safety,” Janzen says. “It’s only going to get worse in the future with increased traffic counts, we’re expecting to see a lot more freight which means a lot more trucks which that interchange cannot currently accommodate.”
Tuesday, the Wichita City Council unanimously approved spending $80,000 to hire a consulting firm to help apply for federal money for the project expected to cost more than $100 million. The consulting firm will write a grant to try to get $25 million to fund the project.
(Read more: KWCH News)