Crossing Missouri River will be challenge this weekend as all I-435 lanes close

You might want to consider adding a little bit of extra travel time this weekend if you plan on crossing the Missouri River in the Kansas City area.

The Missouri Department of Transportation will close about two miles of Interstate 435 on Kansas City's east side for the demolition of the now-closed flyover ramp from northbound I-435 to westbound Missouri 210.

All lanes of I-435 in both directions will be closed beginning at 10 p.m. Friday and won't reopen until 5 a.m. Monday.

The southbound lanes will close at Missouri 210 while the northbound lanes will be closed at Front Street. Also, the on ramp from Missouri 210 to southbound I-435 will be closed.

Even if you don't travel along I-435, you should expect heavier traffic on the major river crossings in the area as drivers seek another way to and from Kansas City's northland. About 80,000 vehicles a day travel on I-435 near that interchange.

The main detour will be along interstates 29 and 35 across the Bond Bridge.

Navigating the east side of Kansas City's downtown loop, which is at the foot of the Bond Bridge, has already become more challenging. A two-year reconstruction project of the Lewis and Clark Viaduct in Kansas is underway and traffic that normally was headed westbound on Interstate 70 over the viaduct is being detoured along the east side of the loop to westbound Interstate 670.

The demolition of the flyover ramp this weekend is part of an approximately $18 million project to rebuild the I-435 and Missouri 210 interchange. Construction began in 2016 and is expected to be completed this year with the building of the diverging diamond interchange.

Once the project is completed, three continuous through lanes will carry traffic along I-435 in both directions through the interchange.

This story was originally published March 2, 2018 at 5:30 AM with the headline "Crossing Missouri River will be challenge this weekend as all I-435 lanes close."