Sedgwick County commissioners have awarded the contract for road improvement on 135th Street West, between 71st Street South and K-42, to APAC Kansas, Inc. with a successful bid of $3,506,544.23. The County budgeted $3.75 million in the 2013 Capital Improvement Program for the project.
Construction on 135th Street West is scheduled to begin between Jan. 6 and Jan. 20, 2014 and will close the road for most of 2014. Rehabilitation will improve north-south traffic between west Wichita and Clearwater.
The project will reconstruct the road, drainage ditches and crossroad structures in the three-mile corridor. Eight-foot shoulders will also be added to the road, which will continue to be a two-lane highway with open ditches.
A main commuter route for the city of Clearwater, this section of 135th Street West carries more than 3,000 vehicles a day. Travelers on this road should note that the intersection at 71st Street South, a paved route that connects to K-42 to the west and Ridge Road to the east, will remain open for the majority of the project, closing for about one month during the summer. The intersection will remain open during harvest periods. One alternative route to and from Clearwater will be 103rd Street South to Ridge Road for those traveling east and northeast, and 183rd Street West for those traveling northwest.
Two additional projects are scheduled to let in late 2014 and will complete the reconstruction of the route all the way to Clearwater.