Wichita leaders heading to D.C. to push for money for local projects

WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) – Wichita Mayor Lily Wu and city council members are heading to Washington, D.C., for meetings next week. The road trip is a way to meet face-to-face with lawmakers to push for money for big projects.

The list includes money to work on flood mitigation, federal funds to improve Kellogg, and another push to get Amtrack to stop in Wichita.

Wichita is getting close to having Amtrak from Texas and Oklahoma stop in Wichita, and the mayor and council will meet with railroad and federal executives to make another push to get Wichita on the list. But the trip is also a chance to try and secure federal funds for things like flood mitigation, particularly in west Wichita.

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Some council members say face-to-face meetings can be the best way to bring home federal funding.

“They say it’s not what you know, it’s who you know, and it’s so true. You can have face-to-face contact. You can communicate with them directly. This is very, very important for our city to have those relationships nationally,” said Wichita City Council member J.V. Johnson.

Wichita Wu and the city council will also meet with federal officials to talk about the Equus Beds Aquifer recharge north of Wichita and push to get more federal funding to go into the 21st Street corridor to improve railroads and traffic flow.

In addition, they will meet with Kansas Senators Roger Marshall and Jerry Moran.

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