Both directions of I-70 will be shut down next week at I-435 in Kansas City
Update: A new detour planned for the closure of Interstate 70 was announced by state transportation officials. That story is posted here.
Drivers who rely on Interstate 70 to get around on the east side of Kansas City will need to find an alternate route or pack plenty of patience next weekend.
The heavily traveled highway will completely close in both directions at Interstate 435 for the weekend beginning Feb. 21 so crews can remove bridges in the area as part of the makeover of the I-70 and I-435 interchange, according to the Kansas City District of the Missouri Department of Transportation.
The closure is expected to have major impacts on traffic. Drivers will have to follow the suggested detours using I-470 and I-435 or find alternate routes, the transportation said in a news release.
During the closure, crews will demolish old I-435 bridges over I-70.
Crews will begin reducing I-70 to one lane in both directions about 8 p.m. Feb. 21. The highway will fully close two hours later and remain closed until about 5 a.m. Feb. 24.
During the closure:
▪ Eastbound I-70 traffic will be reduced to one lane at Manchester Trafficway. Traffic will be detoured off I-70 onto southbound I-435. Drivers needing to continue to eastbound I-70 are advised to take Intestate 470 around the closure.
▪ Westbound I-70 traffic will be reduced to one lane at the Blue Ridge Cutoff. Traffic will be routed onto northbound I-435. Drivers wishing to continue to westbound I-70 are advised to use the 23rd Street exit and then follow southbound I-435 back to westbound I-70.
Drivers are urged to use the zipper merge, a technique where drivers use both lanes up to the defined merge area and then take alternating turns to merge into the open lane.
The work is part of the ongoing two-year, $47 million project to reconfigure the interchange into a partial turbine interchange. The design allows the transportation to remove left-hand exits and make improvements to the loop ramps.
Construction began in March 2019 and is scheduled to be completed by December.
This story was originally published February 13, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
