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00000179-cdc6-d978-adfd-cfc6d7860000It’s Bike Month, and KMUW is celebrating all things bicycle.

Redbud Bike Trail To Add New Amenities

Courtesy Photo

A section of the Redbud Trail from Hydraulic to Oliver streets in Wichita is now under construction. Bicyclers, joggers and walkers will soon be able to enjoy the new amenities to be added along the way. KMUW’s Carla Eckels reports…

Credit Carla Eckels
Project Manager and City of Wichita Engineer Julianne Kallman.

The Redbud Bike Trail was given its name by a K- State landscape architect student from Wichita writing a paper for one of his classes.

The trail stretches 11 miles in northeastern Wichita, intersecting with the K-96 bike path and the McAdam’s Bike Path. The trail passes city parks and employment hubs. The new segment is a 2.5 mile pathway from Hydraulic to Oliver near Wichita State.

Project Manager and City of Wichita Engineer Julianne Kallman says, "this will complete the path at the intersections. It will put in some pause points with some artwork, some parking lots, and some ornamental lighting."

The pause points will be at intersections including one just south of 9th & Hillside, near Wesley Medical Center, one at 13th & Roosevelt, near the MacDonald Golf Course, and one at 17th & Oliver, just south of WSU.

Credit Courtesy Photo
Map of Redbud bike path.

"Some of them will have parking lots," Kallman says. "There will be a plaza area and there will be some benches for sitting and some little concrete walls and some of this artwork that’s being done."

Artwork commissioned from five artists including Tina Murano will be placed in the plazas.

"We’ve got an artist that’s doing some mosaic tile work," Kallman says. "She has a way of printing real photographs onto her tiles, and they are also working with some kids in area schools to do that work."

Credit Courtesy Photo
Rectangular plaza at 13th & Roosevelt.

Steel archways will announce the plaza areas, and the archways will include images of current and past community leaders.

Significant historical events in Wichita will also be depicted, including the famous 1958 Dockum Drug Store sit-in, which is often cited as the first protest of its kind in the civil rights struggle. Another pause point will be on Hydraulic, south of Murdock Street.

"There’s a railroad bridge crossing the canal route there," Kallman says. "That’s going to be refurbished and made as a pedestrian walkway.

Credit Courtesy Photo
Circular plaza at 17th & Oliver.

This new section of the Redbud Trail will cost $2.5 million with 70 percent funding coming from the state and 30 percent from the city.

"It’s been on the books for a while," Kallman says. "It will add beauty to the area. It will add another method of transportation for some people. Ride your bike; push your stroller or whatever you want to do. It’s close to the WSU campus. People could use it for commuting if they wanted, by bike."

The scenic pause points on the path currently under construction from Hydraulic to Oliver will be in place by the end of May, and the artwork added over the summer.

Carla Eckels is Director of Organizational Culture at KMUW. She produces and hosts the R&B and gospel show Soulsations and brings stories of race and culture to The Range with the monthly segment In the Mix. Carla was inducted into The Kansas African American Museum's Trailblazers Hall of Fame in 2020 for her work in broadcast/journalism.