Evergy scraps plan to run new power poles through central Wichita park, neighborhoods
Evergy has called off plans to run new, taller power poles through Riverside Park and nearby north-central Wichita neighborhoods after two years of vocal opposition from residents.
The transmission replacement between the 17th and Emporia substation and the 11th and Jefferson substation will move forward, but the rebuild route will stop there instead of continuing across the river and through the park.
“After further evaluation of the transmission line between the substation at 11th Street and Jefferson to the substation at 777 West Central Avenue, we determined the rebuild is not needed at this time,” Evergy Communications Manager Kaley Bohlen said in an email statement.
“Infrastructure upgrades we have made throughout the city, as well as a planned substation upgrade (at Third and Mead), have allowed us to remove the project from the current schedule.”
She said the existing transmission line connecting the two substations, which was built in the 1950s, will remain in place and continue to serve the area.
“I want to express our appreciation to Evergy for recognizing the importance of preserving the scenic beauty and historic significance of Midtown, Riverside and the Little Arkansas River,” said Susie Cunningham, president of the Little Arkansas Community Coalition, which launched a campaign in 2022 opposing new power poles on the grounds that they would mar the river, park and surrounding neighborhoods.
“The good news is, they’re not planning to put these tall steel towers across Riverside Park and across the river, right down adjacent to the Keeper of the Plains. That would deface the park,” said state Rep. John Carmichael, D-Wichita, who took a leading role in negotiations with Evergy. “For now, at least, I’m really pretty happy. Evergy is on my good list today.”
The utility company said the height of the poles planned for Riverside and Midtown had not been decided before the project was scrapped. Carmichael, who serves on the House Energy, Utilities and Telecommunications committee, said they would have been between 80 and 100 feet tall.
City Council member Maggie Ballard said Evergy assured her the new poles running through the park would have been wooden, not steel. Recalling the first open house Evergy held in 2022 to outline plans for the transmission replacement, Ballard said she was heartened by the company’s responsiveness to community concerns.
“We pressed hard on Evergy to please go back and see if you can find any alternate routes, maybe a different way,” Ballard said.
“Oftentimes, we don’t get to say anything positive about Evergy, but really, we asked and they basically delivered.”
Ballard said she was told the transmission replacement through Riverside and Midtown will not be reconsidered for at least five to eight years.
“If the project is needed in the future, we would begin our communications process again, which would include outreach with landowners and an open house,” Bohlen said.
Substation expansion
The scaled-down transmission replacement project is only possible because Evergy recently won the approval of the Historic Preservation Board and City Council to expand its substation at Third and Mead in Old Town to almost the size of a city block.
Evergy will tear down a portion of the historic Keep Klean Building at 810 E. Third to accommodate the expansion, demolishing additions to the building while preserving the main portion and part of the facade. The old Phillips 66 gas station near Central and Rock Island will also be preserved, although a historic warehouse and another building on the property will be removed.
“There were hard tradeoffs that had to be made there because they needed more space,” Carmichael said.
The company announced several weeks ago that at the urging of community members, it plans to reroute new poles between the Old Town substation and the 11th and Jefferson substation. The poles will now be routed down Santa Fe along the railroad instead of on Emporia.
“We were very pleased by the announcement that they were no longer going to be putting new transmission poles on Emporia, and in fact, if things go as they hope, at this point they’ll take down the existing transmission lines, which are the tops of the poles, and then they’ll shorten the poles,” Carmichael said.
He credited the recent utility redesign announcements to energized citizen groups coming together to make their concerns and preferences clear.
“I think it shows what active neighborhood associations can do in working with utilities to try and accommodate everybody’s needs,” Carmichael said.
Ballard said it appears Evergy has learned something from the intense backlash it received in 2019 after installing hulking 105-foot steel power poles in some northeast Wichita yards near Ninth and Grove. Evergy apologized for that and donated $1.25 million to benefit residents in three ZIP codes affected by the transmission replacement project.
“They learned in District 6 from what happened in District 1 and maybe this will play out throughout the rest of the neighborhoods in our city because the upgrades are needed everywhere,” Ballard said. “So, maybe we’re having a new positive footprint. I’m hopeful.”
Organized community opposition has not discouraged Evergy from moving forward with plans to install tall steel poles on the stretch of the Red Bud Trail between Maple Grove Cemetery and MacDonald Golf Course in 2025.
Evergy will hold an open house Tuesday from 5-7 p.m. outdoors at the Minisa Park shelter to update residents on its reworked north-central Wichita transmission replacement plans and to give details about the route between the 17th and Emporia substation and the 11th and Jefferson substation.
“Nothing will ever satisfy everyone. Nobody wants a pole in their front yard,” Carmichael said.
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