Major traffic shift coming to new Buck O’Neil Bridge in Kansas City. Here’s what to know
Traffic headed north over the new Buck O’Neil Bridge will need to find a different route — at least for a day.
Crews will close northbound U.S. 169 over the Missouri River at 9 p.m. Thursday to shift traffic to the newly completed northbound bridge, Brooke Rohlfing, a spokeswoman for the Missouri Department of Transportation’s Kansas City District, said in a news release.
Rohlfing said the work is expected to be completed by 3 p.m. Friday, with the northbound lanes of U.S. 169 reopening on the new bridge.
Here are the closures drivers can expect during the traffic shift:
- Northbound U.S. 169 will be closed over the Buck O’Neil Bridge.
- Fifth Street at Wyandotte Street will be closed.
- Independence Avenue at Wyandotte will be closed.
- Northbound Broadway at Sixth Street will be closed.
- The ramp from westbound I-70 to Fifth Street will be closed.
- The left lane will be closed at northbound Broadway at Sixth Street.
- Right lane closure on westbound I-70 from Delaware Street to Wyandotte.
- The through lane on Independence Avenue will be closed at Wyandotte.
- Both left turn lanes will be closed on Sixth Street at Broadway
The new Buck O’Neil Bridge is a pair of separate bridges built to replace the former iconic triple arch steel-truss bridge that opened in 1956 as a toll bridge. Once known as the Broadway Bridge, it was renamed in 2016 to honor popular sports legend Buck O’Neil.
Earlier this year, northbound traffic on U.S. 169 was shifted to the new southbound bridge. Southbound U.S. 169 has been closed at the Wheeler Downtown Airport, and traffic has been detoured via Interstates 29/35 over the Bond Bridge on the northeast corner of downtown.
After the traffic shifts, crews will work to complete the project and open the southbound bridge. Southbound traffic is expected to remain detoured over the Bond Bridge through December.
The bridges will not open to pedestrian traffic until December.
Construction on the $220 million project to replace the bridge began in July 2021. The new bridges will provide direct connections from Interstate 35 to U.S. 169, dedicated lanes to downtown Kansas City and a new bike/pedestrian lane. Crews also improved access to the Wheeler Downtown Airport and provided a scenic overlook with benches and murals.
This story was originally published October 24, 2024 at 8:44 AM.
