Construction begins this week on one of the worst bottlenecks in Kansas City region
For commuters who are used to sitting in traffic on Interstate 35 in Johnson County: Relief is on the way.
But as construction starts this week on one of the worst bottlenecks in the Kansas City region, congestion will likely get worse before it gets better.
On Friday, crews will begin a long-awaited, $16.5 million project to expand I-35 at 75th Street in Overland Park. For now, that stretch of highway narrows from five to three lanes, causing regular traffic jams for the roughly 160,000 vehicles passing through each day.
“Especially in the morning and evenings, it’s terrible because the congestion gets so bad,” Overland Park Mayor Carl Gerlach said. “So we’re totally supportive of this project, which will improve and solve a lot of that backlog. To me, it helps everybody in Johnson County who wants to drive to downtown or to the Plaza without sitting in standstill traffic.”
The construction project will add a fourth lane of traffic in both directions, from south of 67th Street to south of 75th Street.
Here are the I-35 detours
At 8 p.m. Friday, southbound I-35 will be reduced to one lane near 75th Street, but just for the weekend.
Southbound traffic will be diverted onto the exit ramp and on-ramp at 75th Street.
Northbound I-35 traffic will not be impacted, according to the Kansas Department of Transportation.
The 75th Street bridge will be closed. KDOT suggests drivers use the detour from Quivira Road to 87th Street to Antioch Road.
The first phase of work is expected to be completed Sunday, March 22. Then all three lanes of southbound I-35, plus the 75th Street bridge, will reopen.
Then, the southbound exit ramp from I-35 to 75th Street, and the on-ramp from 75th Street to I-35, will be closed until mid-July.
The detour route for the remainder of the project is 75th Street to Antioch Road, then to Shawnee Mission Parkway.
The southbound ramps to 75th Street will reopen in mid-July, and then work will move to northbound I-35.
In late July, KDOT plans to close the northbound I-35 ramps at 75th Street.
KDOT spokeswoman Kelly Kultala said there is no expectation that any northbound lanes will close for an extended period of time.
“We still recommend people take detours or alternate routes if possible,” she said.
Officials said the majority of the work will occur during the day, however, night work can be expected as well. KDOT will continue to provide updates on new closures and detours until the project is completed, which should be in late November.
How I-35 work will affect Johnson County
AdventHealth Shawnee Mission, which is off I-35 and 74th Street in Merriam, is forming a plan for dealing with the closures, spokeswoman Morgan Shandler said.
KDOT will redirect hospital traffic heading southbound on I-35 to the 67th Street exit, she said. Employees and patients leaving the hospital should turn on Frontage Road and use the 87th Street on-ramp to southbound I-35.
AdventHealth does not have its own ambulance service, but Shandler said the hospital is working with Johnson County Med-Act and other partners to transport patients using alternate routes.
“While the I-35 expansion project will be a temporary inconvenience for our patients and staff, we know the long-term benefits of expanding the highway at 75th Street will be well worth it,” she said, adding the hospital and KDOT will continue to update patients on detours.
The highway is traveled by thousands of people across the entire Kansas City region, and congestion affects some of Johnson County’s major cities — especially Overland Park, Shawnee, Merriam and Lenexa.
That’s one of the reasons that Johnson County Commissioner Jim Allen said he supported the county funding a portion of the project. The Board of Commissioners voted in 2018 to provide $1.65 million over two years from the County Assistance Road System, or CARS, fund. The money comes from the state gas tax and a county property tax.
KDOT secured 90% of the money through a federal freight transportation grant, but did not have state funds to make up the remaining 10% match. Allen said the county decided to pay for that portion because the congestion is “such a significant problem.”
“I hope this work will decrease the backups. Will it eliminate them? Probably not,” Allen told The Star in an earlier interview. “It’s a complicated intersection, with traffic from U.S. 69 highway and 75th Street trying to get on I-35. By adding that lane, that should make a difference, but it probably won’t be 100% eliminated.”
Officials hope the construction will reduce the daily congestion, but also help alleviate some of the growing pains caused by the county’s expanding workforce and population.
This story was originally published March 16, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
