Road projects in northeast Johnson County spark alerts from cities

Drivers in northeast Johnson County will be twisting and turning their way around Mission Road for several months.

Several road projects have forced portions of Mission Road in Fairway to be blocked, as well as 63rd Street in Mission Hills.

In Fairway, the city is teaming up with Water One on a water main replacement on Mission Road, from Reinhardt Drive south to 63rd Street. Sections of Mission Road will be impassable in work zones for several weeks. Detour routes to Roe Boulevard are marked in the area.

Also, signs have been placed to warn drivers of the closure.

When the Water One project wraps up in a couple months, or longer depending on the weather, Fairway will begin a mill and overlay project to complete street repairs of Mission Road. That project should be completed midsummer. For that project, however, Mission Road is anticipated to remain open.

“The water main was installed back in the early 1940s, so it was time for it to be replaced,” said Fairway Police Chief Mike Fleming. “It also needs to be relocated away from a natural gas line nearby. Local people familiar with the area should plan on finding alternate routes, which may add a couple minutes to their trip.”

He also said that the city has worked with nearby fire and ambulance crews on alternate routes, so response times will not be affected by the work.

“We’re asking for the public’s patience and cooperation,” he said. “When you deal with road closures, it can get stressful for not only the motorists, but the entities doing it. We’re trying to make it as less of an impact as possible in this situation.”

All businesses on Mission Road are open during the project and detours are marked to assist people in getting to them.

But the water main project has some businesses squirming.

Hires Gage, a veterinarian at the Fairway Animal Hospital, said he was warned by the city that the portion of Mission Road in front of his business would be closed sometime next month.

To prepare his customers, he sent out a postcard outlining detours to avoid the construction.

Once the portion of Mission Road is closed in front of the clinic, which sits at 60th and Mission, employees and customers will have to travel through surrounding neighborhoods. If the small parking lot in the back of the clinic is full, they will have to park on neighborhood streets.

“It’s going to be a hassle and we’ll have to get creative,” Gage said. “Hopefully, they’ll get through our area quick.”

While he’s not looking forward to putting up with the construction, his heart goes out to other businesses that rely on spontaneity.

“I almost feel worse for places like Pizza 51, next door,” Gage said. “People have to come and see us one way or another because their animal is sick, but people can always go someplace else for dinner. I hope the road closure doesn’t affect them too much, because Pizza 51 really is a popular spot for the area.”

In Mission Hills, work on 63rd Street has been underway since January and the street will remain closed until November.

Water One began replacing the water main along 63rd Street a few months ago. Around the same time, Kansas Gas started work on its pipe crossings at each of the street’s intersections in the city.

After those utility projects complete, Mission Hills will replace the 63rd Street bridge, as well as the 63rd Street roadway.

While the bridge is still safe to drive on, Kansas has rated it to be structurally deficient.

In a letter to residents, City Administrator Courtney Christensen said, “The upper deck of the bridge was renovated in 1991, but the substructure is all original from when the bridge was erected in the early 1950s.”

The roadwork on 63rd, from Mission Road to State Line Road, will include all curbs and drive approaches being replaced and new asphalt laid.

Mission Hills sent a letter and detour routes to all its residents earlier this year. The city also has a detour map on its website, which can be found at http://www.missionhillsks.gov/DocumentCenter/View/4590.

The cities’ efforts to make the projects less frustrating to residents and businesses hasn’t gone unnoticed.

“They want to do everything they can to help us and I do appreciate it,” Gage said. “I wish it wasn’t happening, but I understand the infrastructure needs to be fixed and the water main needs to be replaced. It’s just unfortunate so many projects in the same area are happening at the same time.”

This story was originally published March 22, 2016 at 4:39 PM with the headline "Road projects in northeast Johnson County spark alerts from cities."