Meet the company in charge of a $570 million toll lane project on U.S. 69 in OP

The Kansas Department of Transportation has selected a contractor to build the state’s first express toll lanes: a $570 million project on U.S. 69 in Overland Park.

The state said it will save about $6 million after working with the two qualified teams to reduce costs after the initial proposals exceeded expectations.

After new proposals were submitted on Sept. 15, the state selected US69 Express Constructors, a joint venture between Ames Construction and Emery Sapp & Sons, which has built a dozen express toll lane projects across the country.

“US69 Express Constructors proposed innovative ideas to optimize the design, strategic incorporation of recycled materials and a coordinated approach to constructing the project that will minimize impacts to traffic,” said KDOT Project Director Steve Rockers.

The U.S. 69 project will add one new toll lane in each direction from 103rd to 151st streets in Overland Park; replace 50-year-old pavement on the other lanes; construct 11 noise walls; and improve interchanges at 167th Street, Blue Valley Parkway and Interstate 435.

The state is using the design-build approach, which allows construction to start quickly.

KDOT plans to break ground in November, with substantial construction beginning next year. The express lanes are expected to open in late 2025 with construction concluding in 2026.

When the toll lanes are in place, drivers can choose whether to use them or drive for free in the other four lanes.

School boundary changes considered

With well over 600 children enrolled, Briarwood Elementary School in Prairie Village is the only Shawnee Mission elementary school that exceeds the district’s targeted maximum of 525 to 575 students.

Meanwhile, fewer than 250 students have attended nearby Tomahawk Elementary in Overland Park in recent years.

Now the district is evaluating a draft boundary proposal that would relieve crowding at Briarwood, 5300 W. 86th St., and increase the number of students at Tomahawk, at 79th Street and Lamar Avenue.

Two parts of the Briarwood attendance area would move to Tomahawk:

▪ Roe to Nall avenues, between 75th and 79th streets.

▪ Lamar Avenue to Woodson Drive from 83rd to 87th streets, and the area between Lamar and Metcalf Avenue, where the Tomahawk boundary would move several blocks south to 87th Street.

The changes would take effect in the fall of 2025 when a new, yet-to-be-designed Tomahawk School will open. A special education program at Tomahawk prevents a 50-50 split in enrollment.

Under the proposal, Tomahawk’s projected enrollment would be 379, with Briarwood at 544.

While more minority and low-income would move to Briarwood, based on current attendance, the shift would be less than 10%.

District officials stressed that the proposal is preliminary and could change based on public feedback.

“I still personally believe the Briarwood number is too high,” Superintendent Michelle Hubbard said at the Sept. 19 school board meeting. “I would really task this group to go back and look one more time at some numbers and try to bring Briarwood down just a little bit lower.”

The district scheduled a meeting at 3:45 p.m. Oct. 4 at Briarwood to take public input and answer questions. An electronic survey was scheduled to be posted that same day.

The working group is to meet again on Oct. 27, and another public meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Nov. 3 at Shawnee Mission East High School. The final recommendation is expected to go to the school board on Nov. 14.

Olathe libraries closed Oct. 10

Don’t try to visit an Olathe library on Oct. 10. Both locations, downtown and Indian Creek, will be closed for staff training.

Free books for young kids

If they live in the Shawnee Mission School District, families with children under 5 can now register for those kids to receive one free book each month from Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.

The Kansas Children’s Cabinet and Trust Fund has been working since last fall to expand the Imagination Library across the state, and the Shawnee Mission Education Foundation is its first affiliate in Johnson County. Ninety-four other Kansas counties have affiliates, too.

“Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library has been shown to improve child language and literacy skills, enhance home literacy environments, and increase the frequency of parents reading to children,” Kimberly Hinkle, the foundation’s executive director, said in a news release.

Launched in 1995, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is the flagship program of The Dollywood Foundation. It has distributed nearly 200 million free books in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia and The Republic of Ireland.

Parents can sign their children up for free at www.smef.org/dolly. Once their address has been verified to be within the district, they will receive age-appropriate books in the mail until the child turns 5.

Defibrillator available in Thompson Park

Overland Park has installed its first outdoor, publicly accessible automated external defibrillator in Thompson Park, 8045 Santa Fe Drive in the downtown area.

The defibrillator was donated by a group of Overland Park residents in honor of Rick Worrel, a business community member who died in 2019. It’s housed in a climate-controlled cabinet known as a “SaveStation” on the south side of the restroom building next to the water fountain.

The AED will be available around the clock for anyone to use for someone who appears to be in cardiac arrest. Here’s how to use it during a medical emergency, according to the city:

▪ First call 911.

▪ Open the cabinet to remove the AED, which can be taken away from the Save Station. Don’t worry about an alarm that will alert police that someone has removed the device.

▪ Turn the AED on, apply the pads to the person needing help, and follow the voice prompts on the AED until emergency crews arrive.

Road closure

Edgerton Road is closed to through traffic between 95th and 103rd streets so it can be reconstructed with 13-foot-wide northbound and southbound driving lanes, 5-foot-wide bike lanes in each direction, raised curbs and an 8-foot-wide sidewalk along the west side.

The city of De Soto says that weather permitting, the new curbing and an asphalt roadway base will be completed by the end of the year. Then the road will reopen until spring, when contractors will lay the final layers of asphalt.

Are you Mr. October?

During the 1860s, according to the city of Olathe, baseball began as a gentleman’s game, played solely for the enjoyment of outdoor exercise.

At 1 p.m. on Oct. 14, the public will be able to recreate that old-time game, which doesn’t require a glove, at the Mahaffie Stagecoach Stop & Farm, 1200 E. Kansas City Road. Oct. 14 is an off day for schools in Olathe.

Registration is preferred. Visit mahaffie.org for details.

This story was originally published September 23, 2022 at 7:00 AM with the headline "Meet the company in charge of a $570 million toll lane project on U.S. 69 in OP."