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Wichita police and other law enforcement agencies have a message for you - Click It or Ticket... Drivers can expect to see increased enforcement of seat belt laws as part of the 2013 Kansas Click It or Ticket traffic enforcement campaign. That campaign runs from Monday, May 20 through Sunday, June 2 and is paid for through a grant from the Kansas Department of Transportation. Police say drivers can expect strict enforcement of both the Safety Belt Use Act and the Child Passenger Safety Act. More on Kansas Seat Belt Laws from the Wichita Police Department: Cops can stop vehicles and issue tickets whenever they see front seat occupants or children under 14 riding without proper restraint.

The Kansas Department of Transportation's 511 Map Web site available at www.kandrive.org or http://511.ksdot.org will be temporarily unavailable due to technical upgrades on Thursday, May 5, from approximately 8 a.m. until noon. The site provides road conditions, road work activity information, camera and message sign views. KDOT will restore public access as quickly as possible and apologizes for any inconvenience this causes the traveling public. While the site is down, travelers can get current road condition, road work activity and travel weather information by calling 5-1-1 from anywhere in Kansas or 1-866-511-KDOT (5368)

The Kansas Department of transportation has received an $87,563 grant to improve the Amtrak station in Lawrence. The money is part of the federal High-Speed Intercity passenger Rail Program. KDOT will work with the city of Lawrence on the project. It involves the preliminary engineering and final design for station improvements.

Reno County leaders and city leaders want a piece of the millions of dollars the Kansas Department of Transportation is offering. KDOT has between three and six hundred million dollars budgeted for highway projects in the south central part of the state. At a meeting held in Hutchinson on Thursday, KDOT officials heard from local leaders about 34 proposed projects and why they were important. The meeting was only to gather information, no decisions were made.

The Kansas Department of Transportation has unveiled a new system aimed at keeping Wichita drivers abreast of traffic concerns.  It's a website called "WICHWay" - the system gives users access to cameras along highways that run through Wichita along with construction information and other up-to-the-minute traffic delay information. The Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) runs along 22 miles of Wichita's highway system.  www.wichway.org

Over the last month, Highway 254 has earned itself a reputation. "It really concerns me when I see the number of accidents that are occurring," says Tracy Phillips. "Pay attention. " Attention is now what a portion of Highway 254 is getting. Three fatalities over one weekend in August prompted an investigation by KDOT of four intersections along the corridor. On Thursday, KDOT revealed its findings in a report concerning Rock, Greenwich, Webb and Ohio Street.

A man from Hugoton dies after crashing a Kansas Department of Transportation truck in southwest Kansas. The wreck happened just after nine o'clock on Monday morning on K-25 about 11 miles south of Ulysses in Grant County. The Kansas Highway Patrol says 43-year-old Jeffrey D. Harris of Hugoton was driving a KDOT truck pulling a trailer. The Kansas Highway Patrol says Harris' truck went off the side of the road and went into the east ditch. Investigators say he over-corrected, went into the west ditch, which caused the truck to roll.

Road crews with the Kansas Department of Transportation hit the highways again in preparation for the next round of Winter weather. A spokesperson for KDOT in Wichita says road crews will be pre-treating highways with a brine mixture before another Winter storm moves in Tuesday afternoon. The mixture should keep any freezing drizzle that comes in before the storm from sticking to roads, and make them easier to plow once the snow moves in. KDOT will also have crews working on 12 hour shifts to treat roads and respond to the storm.

The Kansas Department of Transportation releases a report that details the last decade of transportation progress in the state. The decade began with the largest public works program in state history and ended with passage of an innovative follow-up program. Officials say the programs were catalysts for many of the achievements of the decade. From 2001-2010, 57,000 road projects were done. 900 bridges were replaced or repaired, and more than one-thousand miles of rail tracks were fixed.

There is a new way to get warnings about traffic tie-ups and construction projects going on-line in Wichita. You have probably seen the cameras and large message boards going up along highways in the Wichita area. They are part of a new Kansas Department of Transportation intelligent traffic system. It is designed to monitor conditions and give updates to drivers. KDOT says 80 to 90 percent of the message boards and cameras are now on-line and starting to be used to provide traffic information.

Wichita police and other law enforcement agencies have a message for you - Click It or Ticket... Drivers can expect to see increased enforcement of seat belt laws as part of the 2013 Kansas Click It or Ticket traffic enforcement campaign. That campaign runs from Monday, May 20 through Sunday, June 2 and is paid for through a grant from the Kansas Department of Transportation. Police say drivers can expect strict enforcement of both the Safety Belt Use Act and the Child Passenger Safety Act. More on Kansas Seat Belt Laws from the Wichita Police Department: Cops can stop vehicles and issue tickets whenever they see front seat occupants or children under 14 riding without proper restraint.

The state has used a lot of sand and salt this winter. More than 20 inches of snow fell in some parts of Kansas last month, and we are not done yet. But despite the record snowfalls, the Kansas Department of Transportation said supplies are stocked. Crews are ready for the next spring snow storm. Rain is expected to start falling in south central Kansas late Friday night into early Saturday morning. The rain changing over to snow mix could complicate how crews treat highways.

Transportation officials have reopened a stretch of highways northwest Kansas.   Saturday night KDOT close Interstate-70 from Hays to the Colorado Line and K-27 from Goodland to the Nebraska state line. Those roads are open, but are now listed as completley snow packed and icy. Travel is discouraged across northwest Kansas due to white out conditions. A blizzard warning is in effect for Goodland, Colby and Hill City, while a winter weather advisory is out for Hays and Garden City.

Now that both snowstorms have passed we're getting an idea of just how much the winter mess will cost you.  The storms dropped a record 21 inches of snow in Wichita and the recovery costs continue to climb. Wednesday morning's commute was a mess, which means crews are still working "They'd hit slick spots on the overpasses and bridges and slide out of control," said Master Trooper Eric Molleker. At least a dozen accidents closed down the eastbound lanes of Highway 254 at the Hillside exit for most of the morning commute.

The winter storm is over, so now Kansans are digging out from the mess left behind.  With the sun shining, snow is already starting to melt. Schools/Other Weather-Related Closings: Wichita schools, along with many other schools across Kansas closed again Tuesday.  However, most schools expect to be back in class Wednesday. Click for Weather Closings/Delays The City of Wichita facilities and operations are operating as scheduled today. City officials will provide updates on how the winter storm is affecting operations and facilities if necessary.

Update: Wichita has canceled the Emergency Accident Reporting Plan (EARP).  If you are involved in a crash, call 911. Also today, Waste Management says it will not provide any residential service.  That includes customers in Wichita, Derby, Belle Plain, Haysville, Peck, Clearwater, Mulvane and Rose Hill. Many schools across Kansas, including Wichita, have called off class for the day.  You'll find a complete list of school and community closings below.  School and Weather-Related Closings Road conditions are improving, but they are still far from ideal.  The city of Wichita hired extra help to plow the city streets.  The city hired 21 contractors to work along with the 50 city plows which were already on the street.  Those crews are working 12-hour shifts to keep the roads plowed.  Crews will not plow side streets or residential areas because plowing causes more problems than it solves.  Plows push snow up into driveways and onto cars parked along the curb.

As road conditions continue to deteriorate, the Kansas Department of Transportation is keeping a close eye on things.  FactFinder 12 asked how they come to the decision of when the close roads, especially a large interstate like I-70. Click here for Storm Shots A K-DOT spokesperson tells us that several factors go into making the decision and the condition of the road is just part of it.  They also take into account hotel accommodations along the highway.  Since there are not a lot of large towns with hundreds of hotel rooms along I-70, the interstate is often closed to keep travelers from getting stranded.

Businessman Jon Callen started his career at the turnpike decades ago.  He says it got into his blood.  That's why he wrote a letter to Eyewitness News detailing his concerns about the proposed merger. "I would hope that they will slow down and take time to really look at this closely," said Callen about lawmakers discussions on the merger.  "Currently the turnpike is self sufficient.  That's the way it was designed.  And it doesn't cost the state any money at all. " Every toll paid to travel the turnpike goes right back into keeping the road in good condition.

Kansas Department of Transportation officials have apologized for confusion over recent changes to highways in Kingman and Reno counties. The announcement comes one day after Reno County officials shared their concerns that renaming the highways could hamper emergency response time efforts. Emergency managers said drivers who didn't know about the changes reported an incident, and dispatchers would have to interpret where exactly emergency crews should respond. Click here to read KDOT's full apology In a Facebook post, KDOT said the official change was misinterpreted and should not have occurred.

Remember the long lines and chaos at Kansas tag offices last summer?  It was all the result of a $40 million DMV computer system upgrade.  It was paid for with a $40 million modernization fee added to every vehicle registration.  The legislature approved the fee in 2008.  But it was supposed to be eliminated at the end of last year.  Supposed to be. "I actually didn't know anything about it. I just pay what they tell me I have to have...