RULE 28 | TEAR DOWN A HIGHWAY
- Holly Terrill
- Sep 17
- 4 min read
WALKABLE WICHITA: LESSONS FROM JEFF SPECK
BY RAMI STUCKY
Maintaining Kellogg Avenue/US-54/US-400 is expensive. In 2025, the State of Kansas devoted $425 million to widening the highway from 4 lanes to 6 along a two mile stretch between K-96 and 159th Street. [1] In 2014, expansion from Webb to K-96 cost $345 million. [2] In around 30 years, Kellogg has cost the City of Wichita and State of Kansas almost $1 billion in repairs, expansion, and extension.
Despite this expenditure, urban planner Jeff Speck notes how highways like Kellogg sunder real estate value. This raises the question of whether such investment benefits the City of Wichita at all. To be fair, the intersection around Kellogg and Rock Road is one of the most valuable intersections in the city. However, looking at the total assessed values per square foot of parcel along the entirety of Kellogg shows a different story. For instance, the average assessed value of parcels abutting a two mile stretch of the highway from Woodlawn to Webb is $3.60 per square foot. In comparison, lots along a similar two-mile stretch on the north side of Central, from Oliver to Rock, are assessed at $4.34 per square foot. Lots on the north side of Douglas from Hillside to Woodlawn are worth the city $4.07 per square foot.
This begs the question: is Kellogg as valuable as its continuous investment and repair seems? If it isn’t, then “tear down a highway,” as urban planner Jeff Speck recommends in his book, Walkable City Rules: 101 Steps to Making Better Places. [3] Doing so will dramatically improve walkability, increase property values, and even, surprisingly, lower congestion. When San Francisco’s Embarcadero and Central Freeways were destroyed in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, congestion did not increase. People simply relied on alternative routes or shifted their travel schedules. Commute times in San Francisco even dropped. Seattle replaced its Alaskan Way viaduct with a pedestrian mall, revitalizing its waterfront in the process. [4] The Rhode Island Department of Transportation removed Interstate 195 from their urban core, freeing up 26 acres of prime land in the middle of Providence. [5] Why couldn’t something similar happen in Wichita?
Historically, residents disapproved of Kellogg’s expansion. In 1999, engineers approached city council with a problem. Kellogg could either be diverted south, along the half-mile stretch between Edgemoor Avenue and Rock Road. This would displace a host of car dealerships located there. Or, they could continue along their proposed path, cutting through a part of Eastborough, demolishing about a dozen homes, and destroying the Church of the Magdalen. [6]
The latter was a unique building, constructed in 1968 as a nod to Frank Lloyd Wright’s Annunciation Orthodox Church in Madison, Wisconsin. Thanks to the Church of the Magdalen’s distinct circular and dome shape, it received the term “holy hamburger” by locals. Inside, Wichitans could find featured works of mosaic by noted French stained glass artist Gabriel Loire. [7] Several citizens were therefore understandably upset that the building was going to be razed. “I think it’s a crime that the city is even thinking about tearing down the Church of the Magdalen,” a citizen phoned in to the Wichita Eagle. [8]
“The Church of the Magdalen shouldn’t be moved so that the car lots can stay on the opposite side of a Kellogg freeway,” someone else said. [9] One citizen, a fellow with the American Guild of Organists, specifically commented on the acoustics of the church, writing an opinion letter stating “the acoustics are a joy to perform in, and the room’s sound-scape pleases audience and performers alike. The organ also is a particularly fine one, and it will not sound the same in any other space. Why must the City of Wichita sacrifice what is a cultural treasure?” [10]
Yet, in the end, such attempts at resisting the expansion of automobile infrastructure failed. The city decided to cut through the northern route, demolishing 10 homes in Eastborough, a popular pond, and the church. It was simply too expensive to divert Kellogg a bit to the south, city council members stated. The car dealerships were saved. And what emerged has negatively impacted Wichita’s walkability, divided neighborhoods, and costed taxpayers ever since.
The Kansas Department of Transportation regularly hosts open houses to share proposed highway expansion designs to the public. The most recent ones took place in 2022 at the LifeChange Church and Sunflower Elementary. As more construction on Kellogg seems inevitable, it behooves residents, city councilors, and other organizations committed to walkability to attend and be cognizant of highway expansion projects in Wichita.
[1] “East Kellogg K-96 to 159th Street,” Kansas Department of Transportation, n.d., https://www.ksdot.gov/projects/south-central-kansas-projects/east-kellogg-k-96-to-159th-street?utm_source=chatgpt.com.
[2] Deb Gruver, “$345 Million Project Will Expand Kellogg Avenue from West of Webb to K-96,” Wichita Eagle, October 28, 2014, https://www.kansas.com/news/local/article3409604.html.
[3] Jeff Speck, Walkable City Rules: 101 Steps to Making Better Places (Island Press, 2018), 66.
[4] “Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement Program - Completed,” Washington State Department of Transportation, n.d., https://wsdot.wa.gov/construction-planning/major-projects/alaskan-way-viaduct-replacement-program.
[5] Mya Riley, “3 Things To Keep in Mind When Removing an Urban Highway,” Strong Towns, July 2, 2025, https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2025/7/2/3-things-to-keep-in-mind-when-removing-an-urban-highway.
[6] Lori Lessner, “Church Buy Stalls Kellogg Expansion,” Wichita Eagle, January 31, 1999, 12A.
[7] Joan Wilson, “Save the Church,” Wichita Eagle, September 20, 1998, 14A; Carrol Hassman, “Church Is Treasure,” Wichita Eagle, September 26, 1998, 6A.
[8] “Opinion Line,” Wichita Eagle, November 8, 1998, 19A.
[9] “Opinion Line,” Wichita Eagle, January 23, 1999, 7A.
[10] Hassman, “Church Is Treasure,” 6A.
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