Redevelopment Opportunities

The creation of a light-rail line traveling on the suggested alignment would create several opportunities to turn unused or aging properties into vibrant transit oriented developments. Looking at the line from west to east, here are some locations that would benefit from the creation of the light-rail line.

In the images, the light-rail stations would be located within the red line zone and the areas outlined in green would be focus centers for redevelopment.

1) Towne West Shopping Center:
The first large redevelopment opportunity comes near the intersection of West St. and Kellogg. The areas around the mall are full of big box retailers in an ocean of asphalt. As these businesses move or close, the large lots could be taken and converted into denser housing. Brownstones and first floor businesses with apartments above would create a beautiful walking community centered around a regional destination. The light-rail station would be linked to the neighborhood via a walkway above or below Kellogg and the community could flow from that point to the mall, creating an outdoor extension of the shopping center, of sorts.

2) Friends Campus
Development done on the Friends University campus would be very motivated by the university. If the station platform is located between Meridian and Maple Streets, the university could redevelop the properties to make a transit focused entrance to campus. Much of the on campus housing is on the east side of the campus, so the station would be focused on commuting students.

3) Delano District
An exciting redevelopment opportunity exists in the Delano district just west of Arkansas River. The district is developed with a focus on Douglas Avenue. However, the addition of consistent transit service to the neighborhood would allow the expand into a walkable community with businesses and residences expanding to nearby blocks. The first activity is already occurring with the planned construction of a new central branch Wichita Library, which would be served by the Delano station.

4) Downtown
Boxes represents developments served by the line of the same color.
Blue outlined areas are the nearby redevelopment regions.
The opportunities in the downtown region are some of the driving forces behind the creation of a light-rail system. Improving the region's core is the focus of this mayoral administration. However, its success is hinged on developing a foundation of services for the residents and workers in the region. The addition of a consistent, permanent transit option will encourage the development of a core that is not dependent on automobiles but rather a dense, urban, walkable region that focuses on serving pedestrians in their daily activities.

There are several large surface lots in the downtown region that could be redeveloped into multi-story apartment, condominium, or office buildings. The parking spaces could be replaced by parking garages, however, with the addition of the rail line, not every space would be required to be replaced. This would essentially allow the downtown region to grow its capacity without straining the streets with congestion.

Some potential potential locations include the warehouse and parking lot between 3rd and Central on Waco, large parking lots along Topeka, surface lots on Wichita St., the abandoned building at 2nd and St. Francis, and the construction of the second tower at the Epic Center complex.

5) Old Town
Potential downtown corridors in different colors. Blue outline for areas that could be redeveloped based on service by one of the corridors.

Another opportunity to develop land that has limited use would be the Old Town area. Depending on the route of the line, Old Town's center may be well served by the light-rail should the line travel east down Douglas to Washington and northward. If the line passes under the central rail corridor at Central or options further north, the development of the Old Town district will be pulled north into new areas. The train would also encourage people headed to the bar scene to
avoid driving, creating safer streets around the entire city.


6) East Downtown
A classic redevelopment opportunity exists in the eastern portions of the downtown region. The community that lies west of I-135 and east of Washington Street is struggling in its current state. Many plots sit empty creating opportunities for higher density redevelopment. The region building an effort to restore itself to prominence with projects like the restoration of the historic Dunbar Theatre. Combining those efforts with one to create a transit oriented neighborhood would immensely improve the state of the community.

7) Wesley Medical Center
As the Hospital has grown over the years, so too have a variety of medical services buildings up and down the Hillside and Central corridors. The construction of a Wesley Medical Center station on a transit line crossing Hillside just south of 9th St. would create the opportunity to develop an additional block of medical service oriented businesses. The businesses could also focus on serving the transit users that work in the Wesley Hospital Complex.


8) WSU
The Wichita State area would require a significant amount of private development. Most of the region south of 17th St. is residential and not developed for school services. The right-of-way only enters the WSU sphere of influence at the eastern portion of the campus, mostly near the golf course. Placing a station further west on the right-of-way requires a walk through the residential neighborhood to reach campus. If private development would redevelop the corridor from the station to the campus into a walking focused region, there could be a nice flow of residences, office, and retail on the walk to campus from the station.

9) Brittany Center
The Brittany Center location is the first, true start from scratch opportunity along the line. For whatever reason, much of the land in the southeastern portion of the square quarter-mile was left undeveloped, save a power sub-station. Redeveloping the location into a high-density transit oriented development would create a consistent supply of transit riders in a region that was otherwise dead land.

The Second Step: The Starter Line

Now that a corridor has been established, the next decision to make is what areas should see service first. Since the downtown region is the focus of the system, let us assume that it will be serviced by the starter line, and work out from there. Going west, major destinations served include Delano, the new central library, and museums of the river, Friends, Newman, Towne West Shopping Center, the Dugan Business District, including Cessna, the Airport, Learjet, and residential locations west of Tyler Road. Logically, the airport would be another popular destination, as well as the two universities, as their population has a higher usage of transit. Offering commuters rides to work suggests extending the line to Learjet and commuters to downtown would need a park-and-ride station at which to board, pushing the system out to at least Maize Road, possibly 119th St. Traveling east from downtown, major destinations include Wesley Hospital, Wichita State, the Brittany Center, Bradley Fair, and Waterfront developments, as well as a rapidly developing Greenwich Road corridor. Arguing that all of those locations could support transit operations with some smaller investments, the line should extend out to Greewich, and beyond to approximately 143rd Street for a park-and-ride centered station.

Taking that starting alignment comes to a fairly lengthy 20 mile starting investment, depending on the exact routing of the line.

Some suggestions:

1) Offer direct access to the airport terminal. Creating a system requiring transfers to a bus connection makes the system less desirable to travelers. A one-seat ride is the ideal form of transit. This requires a short jog south from the rail right-of-way to the airport terminal. A map is shown to the left, with the proposed routing in blue and the ignored portion of right-of-way in yellow.

The line would access the airport from the east using a street running alignment on Airport Road. The line is drawn in accordance with the new terminal and parking design, which will be discussed in a later post. After serving the terminal, the train would cross to the west side of Mid-Continent Road and travel north to return to the original right-of-way. The alternative would be to simply have a station near the hotels and rental cars at Dugan Road. Then have a shuttle circulate from the terminal to the station.


2) At Newman University, there are two options for routing. The first is to follow the right-of-way, which is represented by the yellow line. It bends to the southeast just after West St. for a half mile before crossing Southwest Blvd. at Harry St. and recovering to the Northeast paralleling the active rail line. The second is to use street-running service on McCormick St. east from West St. and follow it around Newman University's campus.

The second option, is a half-mile shorter and serves the center of the Newman University campus. Unless the city can identify an unexpected transit need for the Harry and Southwest Blvd. neighborhood, the shorter distance and better university transit service should warrant the northern alignment.

3) The downtown alignment is something that will have to be carefully considered. It will heavily shape the future of the region and careful planning is a must. The desired function of the line needs to dictate its placement. For example, if the city wants the system to serve Century II, Intrust Bank Arena, and Old Town within two blocks, the green alignment below, following Douglas and Washington, would be ideal. However, this routing offers little opportunity for substantial transit oriented growth. To really utilize the barren acres of asphalt the downtown area has so readily available, one of the other four suggestions could be more appropriate. Obviously, there are many other options for the downtown route than are laid out here, these are just a few with different objectives for consideration. There is no evidence to suggest that ridership would excel with these options, nor is there any study to prove these streets have the capability of supporting the vehicles.


To outline these potential options, we'll move from southernmost northward.

1) The green option is a focused on service to well established portions of downtown. The rail would merge onto Douglas in the eastern portion of Delano and cross the Arkansas River on the Douglas Ave. Bridge. Following Douglas to Washington St. north to the eastern line. Major destinations within a quarter mile of the line include Century II, the Broadview Hotel, the Wichita Area Bus Terminal, Intrust Bank Arena, Union Station, and all of Old Town.

2) The red-orange option follows the green line until Main and Market Sts. Eastbound trains would travel north on Market from Douglas to Central while westbound trains would travel south on Main from Central to Douglas. The train would travel east on Central to Washington, then north to the eastern line. Destinations served include Century II, the Broadview Hotel, the Epic Center, the Government District at Central and Main, and the northern portions of Old Town.

3) The light blue option is an idealistic option. Could a tunnel be built underneath the downtown area, it could follow this track, serving the same destinations as option 2.

4) The yellow and orange tracks are two variations of the same option. The trains would stay on the rail right-of-way from Delano, across the Arkansas River on a new bridge, the travel north into along the western side of downtown to either Pine St. or Murdock St. The train would then turn east and travel to the eastern line. If the train traveled on Pine it could be converted to a transit mall of sorts and the train, once under a new overpass for the Central Rail Corridor, would join directly to the eastern line. Otherwise it could travel on Murdock and go under the current overpass and angle back to the eastern line using a small abandoned curve. These lines would also serve the same destinations as option 2, with the exception of northern Old Town, while adding St. Francis Hospital.

Finally, another way to bring down the cost of the initial build process is to only partially build the technology through the corridor. Most light rail systems are powered by overhead electric lines, but Diesel Multiple Units are diesel powered versions of light-rail vehicles that would not require the vast network of wires to be in place from the start. Secondly, while ideally a double-tracked system would be built, running operations on single-tracks with sections of double-tracks for passing and stations can reduce initial costs. Finally, there is always the option of scaling down the suggested starter line. Service to all the suggested areas may not be profitable and further study should be conducted to identify locations that should be served in the first phase.