‘Embarrassed’: Delayed road work at KC-Lee’s Summit border to finish soon, developer says
The developer behind a long-delayed road construction project at the intersection of Interstate 470 and View High Drive near the Paragon Star Sports Complex is hoping the project will finally wrap up this month, after prematurely celebrating the project’s completion last fall.
The bones of a diverging diamond intersection have been laid at the site, which straddles the border between Kansas City and Lee’s Summit, cutting along View High Drive.
But a swath of traffic cones and an unfinished project have lingered, and sidewalks, a layer of asphalt and road striping still need to be finished. Signals also still need to be activated.
Paragon Star hosted a celebratory ceremony at the site in late October, hailing what it said at the time was the completion of the project, which aims to ease the flow of traffic brought by the sprawling sports complex and a planned residential and commercial village just off the interstate. A gaggle of state and local elected officials and Paragon Star representatives grinned as a gigantic pair of scissors cleaved through a ribbon.
Months later, traffic is still weaving through cones at the site.
Bill Brown, Paragon Star’s chief operating officer, said at the time of the event, his group had been told the project was just a couple of weeks from being finished. Now, he said, Pyramid Contractors Inc., Paragon Star’s project contractor, has relayed that the work is expected to be done by the end of April or possibly sooner.
“I’m the one with egg on my face,” he acknowledged Friday. “I drive through the intersection every day too, because I just live up the hill. When I’m going out to Paragon Star, I’m dealing with it just like every other commuter is.”
“We join everybody else in wanting to get this thing done as quickly as we possibly can,” he said. “None of us are happy. I don’t have any problem saying we’re embarrassed that it’s taken this long. It’s not helpful to us either.”
Paragon Star is responsible for building out road improvements near the sports complex, including the diverging diamond intersection. A sales tax on a district surrounding the complex is helping to pay for the project, alongside contributions from Paragon Star, the state and Lee’s Summit, Brown said. He estimated the project will have a price tag of around $15 million.
Issues with asphalt, weather and utilities have delayed the project, he said. To lay asphalt, contractors need warmer temperatures, and a final layer wasn’t put down in time for the cold winter season, when asphalt plants close, Brown said. Unidentified utility lines that workers have run into on multiple occasions have slowed work as well, he said.
The delay has been frustrating, given that a large office-retail building in the complex is ready to open, but the facility can’t receive a certificate of occupancy from the city of Lee’s Summit until the intersection work is finished, Brown said.
Users of the sports complex, which Brown estimated will have around 1.5 million visitors in 2026, have to deal with the construction every time they visit, he said. The developer has heard plenty of feedback.
“We want it done,” he said, “maybe worse than anybody.”
