Richard Zrubek lives in Bel Aire, an area of suburban Wichita that’s seen growth in the last few years. “Now it’s getting to the point where during rush hour traffic, you’ll find pretty much every exit on 96 from Woodlawn, Hillside, Rock Road, and now they’re backed up clear to the highway when people are trying to exit the road,” Zurbek said. As this growth continues, the Kansas Department of Transportation is proposing several new changes to the K-96 highway. “We’re taking seven interchanges; five of them are going to become diverging diamond interchanges. And then toward K 15, where it meets us 54, we’re gonna be expanding from four to six lanes,” says KDOT representative J.B. Wilson. Since the last public town hall last February, some of the public’s input was used to update the plan. Jake Borchers helped design the current version with those diamond interchanges and said that those working on the project continue to be open to suggestions. “It’s not like if we miss something tonight, there’s no more chances,” Borchers said. “So we’re open to those comments, that input to the life of the project.” Although many residents agree that new interchanges would work well and be safer, people like Zrubek say they’d like to see additional renovations, like new stoplight technology.
Source: KAKE – News
