Recently completed was the second phase of a long term project in the southwest Kansas City metropolitan area. Known as the Johnson County Gateway project, the $600 million, three-phase construction added high speed flyovers and collector distributor roadways and widened roadways to both improve traffic flow and better separate ingress and egress movements. Considered to be the most congested interchange in the state, the junction of Interstate 35, Interstate 435 and K-10 at Lenexa and Overland Park sees 230,000 vehicles per day traveling through the area. Area growth and increases in long distance freight traffic will continue to increase those numbers.

Phase I construction ran through December 2012. Work then added two lanes in each direction along Interstate 35 between 119th Street (Exit 220) and I-435 (Exit 222). Prior work to Phase II also involved repaving area freeways and converting two exits to diverging diamond interchanges.

Phase II, a $288 million project, involved 22 new and 5 rehabilitated bridges. The existing single lane flyovers at I-35 and I-435 were replaced with new two-lane ramps. A third flyover from K-10 east to I-435 north replaced a directional ramp at the same interchange.

Work started in April 2014 and was completed by the end of 2016, though a formal ribbon cutting was held in Lenexa in November 2016. Landscaping work wraps up in spring 2017. We drove through the Johnson County Gateway Project in June 2015 and again at the end of October and November 1. The following suite of photos notes both new traffic patterns and ongoing construction.

I-435 south at I-35

I-435 southbound at the semi-directional T interchange with K-10, midway during construction to add the new flyover from K-10 east to I-435 north. Photo taken 06/18/15.

The previous traffic pattern took all traffic to Interstate 35 from I-435 east at the interchange itself. A new c/d roadway moved the departure point for Interstate 35 north to Kansas City and south to Wichita a mile to the west. Photo taken 06/18/15.

K-10 east at I-435/35

The K-10 folded diamond interchange with Renner Boulevard was reconstructed, with a new distributor roadway added eastbound to Interstate 435. Photo taken 11/03/16.

The c/d roadway from K-10 at Renner Boulevard ties into a new c/d roadway system along I-435 leading to Interstate 35. 14 bridges along I-435 were rebuilt or reconstructed as part of the Johnson County Gateway Project. Photo taken 11/03/16.

New concrete roadways were constructed for Interstate 435 east from I-35 to U.S. 69. Photo taken 11/03/16.

I-435 west at I-35/K-10

Approaching the cloverstack interchange with I-35 on I-435 west. New flyovers were built for the beltway west to I-35 south and from the beltway east to I-35 north. Photo taken 10/30/16.

Passing below the new flyovers with Interstate 35 on I-435 west. A new collector distributor roadway was constructed for the beltway west to the forthcoming with Lackman Road (Exit 1A). Photo taken 10/30/16.

The Exit 1A c/d roadway for Lackman Road opened to traffic in mid-November 2016. These also separate merging traffic from I-35 south to I-435 west. Photo taken 10/31/16.

I-35 north

Approaching 95th Street (Exit 224) along I-35 north during earlier work of Phase II. This stretch now accommodates five lanes through to the DDI with 95th Street. Photo taken 06/19/15.

I-35 south

Interstate 35 south at 95th Street (Exit 224). The diamond interchange at 95th Street was converted to a DDI between February 2016 and August 17, 2016. Photo taken 10/31/16.

The flyover from Interstate 35 south to I-435 east through Overland Park opened to traffic in late November 2016. Photo taken 10/31/16.

Phase III work will further improvements to the Johnson County Gateway to handle traffic concerns identified through 2040. The last phase will upgrade K-10 west of I-435 with a new westbound c/d roadway for Renner Boulevard. It will also complete upgrades to I-435 north of K-10 and construct a new flyover ramp from I-35 north to the I-435 westbound c/d roadway by Lackman Road. Presently there is no funding in place Phase III.

Interim work will repave Interstate 435 from east of Quivira Road (Exit 82) to Metcalf Avenue (Exit 79). The two-year project commences in spring 2017.

Sources:

  1. “Phase II of JoCo Complete.” ConstructionEquipmentGuide.com, January 9, 2017.
  2. Johnson County Gateway – Phase 2. KDOT, fact sheet. November 2016.