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Council approves $36 million Bleckley Drive drainage project to reduce life‑safety flooding
Summary
The Wichita City Council approved additional funding to begin the first phase of a multi‑year drainage project on Bleckley Drive, citing repeated flooding and safety risks; funding comes from the stormwater utility fund.
The Wichita City Council on Feb. 25 voted to approve revised project funding and an amending resolution to advance the Bleckley Drive drainage improvements, a roughly $36,000,000 multi‑year project funded from the stormwater utility fund.
The project targets the south end of Bleckley Drive near Kellogg and Elm, where staff said even small rain events can produce curb‑to‑curb flows, fast velocity and vehicle wash‑outs. Gary Janssen, Public Works and Utilities director, told the council the basin sits in a natural valley, has a history of hazardous flooding and that the proposed improvements aim primarily to reduce depth and velocity of floodwaters to mitigate life‑safety risk. “When you get typically six inches of water, we get to the bottom of most cars,” Janssen said, and at greater depths vehicles can be carried away.
Council staff and…
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