See the new Kansas road construction coming to Johnson and Leavenworth counties
Kansans will soon have new ways to get around the state, with a new bridge and interchange in Johnson and Leavenworth counties.
Every two years, the state chooses a number of infrastructure projects to fund through the Eisenhower Legacy Transportation Program. On Oct. 22, Governor Laura Kelly announced nine IKE projects across the state, totaling $442 million.
The two Kansas City-area projects selected for funding are a new interchange linking Lenexa and Olathe at K-10 and Lone Elm Road, and a replacement to the aging Centennial Bridge in Leavenworth.
Planning for the projects began as early as 2021, with public meetings, environmental studies and site surveying.
Find a dashboard of all the IKE projects on the Kansas Department of Transportation website.
Johnson County interchange
In Lenexa and Olathe, drivers will have a new way to enter and exit K-10 and cross the highway at Lone Elm Road.
KDOT is planning to build an interchange at Lone Elm Road and K-10. Construction on the $43 million project will be open for bidding between 2028 and 2030. The project is expected to take two years.
The interchange — with on and off ramps and a bridge over the highway — will be located a mile west of the interchange at Woodland Road and a mile east of the cloverleaf at K-7.
The project will connect Lenexa with the three schools on College Boulevard — Meadow Lane Elementary School, Prairie Trail Middle School and Olathe Northwest High School.
To keep pedestrians safe around the Olathe schools, the plan calls for adding medians on Lone Elm Road, reducing the speed limit to 30 mph and constructing a bike trail on the west side of Lone Elm, to match the trail on the east side.
The interchange plan is expected to accommodate developments near the convergence of K-10 and K-7, as planned by the City of Lenexa for the next 35 years. KDOT says that by 2060, having an interchange at Lone Elm Road would mitigate increases in traffic on neighborhood roads and avoid an estimated $60 million in construction on those streets.
The Lone Elm Road interchange is part of an estimated $1.2 billion project to reconstruct and expand 16.5 miles of K-10 across Lenexa, Olathe and De Soto. In the works since 2023, KDOT’s current plans call to build 16 interchanges and widen the highway to three lanes.
Leavenworth bridge
Leavenworth’s Centennial Bridge will get an upgrade, with a new river crossing built next to the more-than-70-year-old steel arch bridge. The “Blue Bridge” is the only Missouri River crossing for almost 40 miles.
The crossing links Missouri and Kansas destinations like Fort Leavenworth and the Kansas City International Airport. A 2024 inspection found the structure to be in poor condition. Each day, the bridge carries approximately 14,300 vehicles, according to KDOT.
The new bridge will be located just north of the existing one. It will have four lanes — more than the current two lanes — a combined pedestrian and bike path and higher clearance for boats to pass underneath.
Plans include two scenic overlooks of Leavenworth and arched blue railing to echo the current bridge.
The DOT anticipates beginning construction in 2027 on the $157 million project. In the works since late 2021, the new bridge is scheduled to open in 2029, with demolition of the old bridge shortly after.
The existing bridge will stay open during construction, except for short closures.
In addition, Missouri is adding a new lane to the roundabout at the nearby intersection of Route 92 and Highway 45.
This story was originally published October 29, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
