Wichita drivers, your commute at I-135, I-235 north interchange is about to get smoother

Drivers headed into the North Junction will have a smoother commute when a long-awaited flyover ramp opens this week.

The northbound I-135 flyover ramp to southbound I-235 is slated to open Wednesday. A ribbon cutting is set for 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, with the flyover opening to traffic sometime after the ceremony.

Until now, traffic has crowded into a single-lane loop ramp to move from northbound I-135 to southbound I-235. That loop often is congested during weekday peak hours, Kansas Department of Transportation spokesperson Tom Hein said.

“During the middle of the day it’s not bad and traffic moves,” Hein said, “but as soon as rush hour starts from about 4 o’ clock to 6 p.m. every week day, we would see traffic back up as far as K-96, which is about a mile south of there.”

“All it took was one fender-bender and that just compounded the problem,” Hein said.

The configuration of the North Junction — where the I-135 and I-235 freeways, and state highways K-96 and K-254, all come together in a tangle of ramps and loops — has remained the same for decades while Wichita has grown in both population and traffic.

“That’s how it was built,” Hein said. “Traffic numbers have definitely gone up since then and it just doesn’t serve the needs now.”

The new flyover ramp, along with other construction being done on the North Junction, is intended to alleviate that.

“This will be a tremendous improvement from what we’ve had for decades in Wichita.” Hein said. “This will make travel in the North Junction more efficient and much safer.”

After the flyover ramp opens, the old single-lane loop ramp will be closed off and eventually demolished, Hein said. The exit to the new two-lane flyover is about a quarter mile south of the old exit.

Barricades and signs will be placed to prevent people from getting on the old ramp.

The opening of the ramp is part of KDOT’s Gold Project that began in April 2021 and is intended to alleviate congestion and hazards at the north Wichita interchange is expected to be completed by December 2023.