The Federal Highway Administration said Friday there will be no significant environmental impacts from the next phase of the East Kellogg freeway project. The decision means the project can move forward.
The Kansas Department of Transportation is looking to continue the reconstruction of East Kellogg, from the K-96 interchange to 159th Street East. The project will upgrade Kellogg to six lanes to help reduce congestion, increase safety and support economic growth for east Wichita and Andover. KDOT has been working with federal officials to get the environmental clearance so the project can move into final design and construction.
KDOT was planning to move ahead with the East Kellogg project through a progressive design-build process, but that was stopped last fall when reviews found flaws in the evaluation and scoring process. The project will now move ahead under the standard design-bid-build method, but KDOT will accelerate the schedule to get the work done faster. An engineering consultant will be hired to begin work in the second quarter of this year, and final design will take about two years to complete. The process will include right-of-way purchases and the relocation of utility services. The goal is to begin construction in the summer of 2025.
[ photo: WICHway.org ]
