Kansas has advanced nine highway projects worth $442 million in the construction of its 10-year Eisenhower Legacy transportation program.
Gov. Laura Kelly (D) joined Kansas Department of Transportation Secretary Calvin Reed in Lindsborg, about 70 miles north of Wichita, on Oct. 22 to announce the fourth wave of additions to the IKE pipeline, with leases scheduled between 2028 and 2030.
Launched in 2020, the Eisenhower Legacy Transportation Program, known as IKE, is a decade-long initiative to modernize, expand and preserve the state’s highway network. The $10-billion program publishes project data, bid results and progress reports through KDOT’s accountability and transparency portal.
The largest project in the new round is the replacement of the Centennial Bridge on Route 92 between Leavenworth, Kan., and Platte County, Missouri. Plans call for a new four-lane bridge to be built just north of the existing Missouri River crossing, improving capacity and safety for a key freight and commuter route.
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HDR and TranSystems are leading the development of the design, which includes realigned approaches, new river docks, an expanded deck with improved shoulders and improved navigational lighting coordinated with the Missouri Department of Transportation.
KDOT reports studies, environmental review and right-of-way mapping are underway, and construction is expected to begin in 2027 and continue through 2029. The project has an estimated construction cost of $157 million and a rental target of 2028. No prime contractor has been named.
The map highlights the nine Kansas counties where projects in the latest round of $442 million in the Eisenhower Legacy Transportation Program will move forward.
ENR/Adobe Stock Chart
In Sedgwick County, a $120 million improvement package on the K-96 corridor between I-135 and I-35 will expand the route to six lanes and improve seven interchanges, including Rock and Woodlawn roads in northeast Wichita.
Two overpass lane projects on US 169 in Anderson and Allen counties will move forward under the upgrade track, totaling about $35 million. KDOT has begun right-of-way survey and mapping work, with lease expected in 2029.
Similarly, US 83 in Scott and Finney counties will gain additional passing lanes under a $33 million program scheduled for 2029.
Smaller state route reconstruction projects round out the current wave. These include improvements to K-33 in Douglas and Franklin counties, with budgets of $15 million and $11 million, respectively; reconstruction of K-4 at Bethany Drive in Lindsborg, estimated at $11 million; and US 281 in Russell and Osborne counties, estimated at $17 million.
Funding for the IKE program combines state transportation revenues with federal and local sources, including bond authority transfers and state sales tax. Each project’s financing is finalized at letting. KDOT publishes monthly bid results and an annual appendix listing contracts exceeding $5 million.
Centennial Bridge is expected to anchor major river and freeway works by the end of the decade, while the K-10 interchange and K-96 corridor will provide opportunities for suburban and urban markets.
Reconstruction and through lane projects across the state will expand IKE’s reach in rural Kansas, with most of the work scheduled between 2027 and 2030.
