Relief from rugged driving conditions over the Woodie Seat Freeway linking Hutchinson and South Hutch will soon get underway but it may be nearly two years before all improvements are completed.
We have good and bad news for those long praying for a smooth drive on one of Hutchinson’s most prominent and busy roadways now known for deteriorating conditions that have caused our old friend and community leader Woodie Seat to turn over numerous times in his grave.
Work on the Arkansas River bridge, which Reno County is responsible for repairing, and freeway sections to the north, which City Hall must shoulder, is to get underway shortly after the Kansas State Fair closes on Sept. 17. The four-lane, 68-year-old river bridge will be totally shut down for patching and related work, all designed to extend its life for another 25 to 30 years, rather than face a $12 million total replacement, according to County Public Works director Don Brittain.
A soon-to-start detour leading over to the Frank Hart/South Main bridge will be in effect while initial work is done, then lifted when winter weather stops the project until spring when a new surface coating goes on. While bridge repairs take place by a Topeka company called PCI, the city has a contract with APAC/Shears of Hutchinson for Phase One on the Woodie Seat. That also begins after the fair and extends to the C Street bridge. The badly broken and eyesight concerning the concrete median will be removed along with stabilization patchwork, but Old Man Winter again shuts down work until asphalt can be laid sometime next spring. That means completing Phase One could stretch until next June.
Then follows Phase Two, which will include upgrades on the Avenue B bridge and a city council-approved roundabout near A and Adams where the freeway currently dumps traffic. Bonds valued at $450,000 were approved to design Phase Two after APAC was the only bidder on a $4.1 million construction tab for Phase One and includes Ark River bridge work which will cost $l,580,000. The city’s share for initial freeway construction totals $2,520,000.
The good news about all of this, along with work finally getting underway soon, is that Brittain’s contacts with the Kansas Department of Transportation secured $900,000 for the city and $600,000 grant money for the county to reduce local taxpayer expense for Phase One.
Design work and cost estimates on Phase Two are still being developed, and it will likely be the spring of 2025 before all of Woodie Seat is again a community asset rather than an embarrassment.
