Lighting up the Prairie and Imaging the Wind along East Kellogg in Wichita, KS

April 11, 2024

At night, this project illuminates three bridges, creating neighborhood beacons along East Kellogg: at Webb Road, Greenwich, and Zelta. Greenwich, shown above and below, glows with vivid color changing light shows that slowly fade between different washes of hues.

The bridges are enlivened with programmable LED lighting shows, inspired by the seasons, holidays and community events. Each season carries its own set of colors running continuously, until a holiday or other event comes along with its own special show. The lighting creates a subtle community calendar.

The lighting has become so popular, that the City now celebrates sporting events with the light shows. For example, for the Kansas City Chiefs’ win at the Super Bowl, in 2020, by popular demand, the City ran the red and gold colors to celebrate their spectacular win. Now, six more sets of team colors have been added to extend the celebration. The community has realized the potential of programmable lighting, how it lifts the spirit and promotes interaction. This project really reflects the spirit and heart of the community

The project mitigates the mass of the infrastructure by introducing a series of curved forms echoed in barriers, piers railings, grills, and pattern design that slenderize and add grace to the structures. This project uses curves, form, pattern, and light to create more neighborhood friendly expression to the infrastructure, not the heavy, grey, rectangular eyesore many highways can be, this dares to do better.

“Very impressive! I’m usually not a big fan of some of the artwork incorporated into transportation projects … but the LED lights and the artwork on the MSE and soldier pile walls on the current projects definitely seems like a worthwhile investment.”
Donald Snyder
KDOT

This project features highway interchanges and roadway improvements over five miles at the eastern gateway to Wichita, KS. It highlights Wichita’s heritage, inspired by flight, wind and the prairie. Landscape is re-vegetated prairie with an emphasis on sustainability and rain harvesting.

Our inspirations come from history, industry, culture, and nature; interpreting the very essence of Wichita into concrete and steel, form and pattern, literally imaging the wind over the prairie.

The first segment of the project includes the Webb Road Underpass, a curving bridge with patterned concrete barriers and cut metal patterned railings, and 400,000 sq.ft. of patterned retaining walls that carry wind and prairie motifs. The railings patterns abstract and echo the concrete patterning.

This project involved an interdisciplinary collaboration between Vicki Scuri SiteWorks, WSP and their sub-consultants. It includes three bridges, custom concrete patterning, railings, grills, programmable LED lighting, and landscape enhancement opportunities.

The second segment of the project includes the Greenwich and Zelta overpasses, marking community gateways along the frontage roads. These bridges act as neighborhood gateways and create a sense of place, celebrating the Wichita’s identity and that of its neighborhoods.

The pattern design, activated by light and shadow over sculptural form, creates optical effects that enhance the pattern sequencing, introducing pedestrian scale and visual interest. This project has exceeded everyone’s expectations, raising the bar for aesthetics in highway projects.

If you are interested in how we found and developed our inspirations and the many changes this project underwent to get to its final form, here are our other posts on East Kellogg from the very beginning:

WICHITA: BRIDGES OVER KELLOGG DESIGN PROCESS | 2013, our first attempts at form finding.

PART I: KELLOGG: INITIAL DESIGN INSPIRATIONS | Spring 2015, refining our concept into the design.

PART 2: KELLOGG: WEBB ROAD REDESIGN | Autumn 2015, our first steps toward the final design.

PART 3: KELLOGG: GREENWICH DESIGN DEVELOPMENT | Autumn 2015, developing the forms.

BLOWN AWAY BY WICHITA’S NEW EAST KELLOGG WALLS | 2018, first in-construction site reviews.

PROGRESS UPDATE: EAST KELLOGG IN WICHITA, KS | 2019, more in-construction site reviews.