US 69 ARRA project details

[route56]

Here's the details on the new US 69 project:

US 69 will be rebuilt from 4 lanes to 6 (3 in each direction) between 435 and 35. In addition, the northbound exit point for the 75th Street exit will be moved. Traffic bound for 75th Street will be directed on a C/D ramp that will cross under both the on-ramp from 87th Street exit ramp and US 69. There will also be a exit from Northbound US 69 to 75th Street. This new configuration eliminates a weave between merging traffic from 69 and northbound I-35 traffic exiting on 75th.

The "Tunnel"  that takes the 75th Street ramp under the 87th street interchange was built during the 87th Street project. A second tunnel under US 69 will be built.

Phase 1, to be done this year, involves rebuilding Lenexa Drive (the eastern I-35 frontage road) to make way for the new 75th Street C/D ramp and the placement of temporary paving along southbound US 69.There is only one building that will be in the new Lenexa Drive ROW footprint, a QuikTrip. A new QT has been built at a more convenient location to replace this store, and the building has already been vacated.

Phase 2 will be the rebuilding of northbound US 69 and its associated ramps, as well as the 75th Street C/D road. US 69 traffic will be place in the asphalt strip created during phase 1 (two lanes each direction). The 103rd Street Interchange northbound will be closed during this phase

Phase 3 (scheduled for 2011) involves rebuilding of southbound 69. Traffic will be shifted onto the northbound lanes (again, 2 lanes each direction). The ramps from Southbound 69 to and from 95th will be rebuilt, and those ramps will remain closed during phase 3. In addition, sections of 95th Street and Switzer Road will be rebuilt, reducing 95th to 1 lane each direction and closing Switzer to thru traffic.

Some other notes:

• The interchange between 87th and US 69 is a 3 ramp half para-clo, with the loop ramp being from westbound 87th to Southbound US 69. The US 69/I-35 merge is immediately north of 87th, and the 87th/I-35 interchange is immediately west of US 69, making movements from 87th to US 69 unnecessary.


• The west half of the US 69-103rd Street interchange was rebuilt during the 69/435/Antioch project. Needless to say, KDOT is not planning on rebuilding this part of the interchange a second time.
  

[Scott5114]

The "Tunnel"  that takes the 75th Street ramp under the 87th street interchange was built during the 87th Street project.

Woot! Go KDOT for planning ahead!

This is the most major project I've heard of being conducted with ARRA funds. Sounds pretty cool. I'll have to take a look next time I'm in Kansas City–the I-35/87th Street interchange is already pretty neat, being a SPUI. Looks like I-35 through Johnson County is shaping up to become full of cool stuff. I'm glad KDOT is actively doing work on it, as opposed to waiting until things get congested, accident-prone, or out-of-date like some state DOTs tend to do.

[J N Winkler]

There have been bigger ARRA projects, but outside the Central States region.  For instance, in California the Caldecott Tunnel fourth bore has been advertised for $270 million (bids opening mid-September), while the two US 69 jobs (69-46 K 8251-07 and 8251-11) aggregate to $82 million.

Oklahoma has actually let a few sizable ARRA projects.  Job piece 20313(04) is for grading, drainage, surfacing, etc. on I-44 near SH 7:  that was $15 million.  Job piece 20539(04) is an I-40 add-a-lane job between mileposts 125 and 136:  the low bid was $59 million, significantly below the engineer's estimate of $76 million.  Moreover, because Oklahoma DOT is now an E-plans state DOT, the construction plans for these projects were all available online.  But (sigh) ODOT isn't maintaining an online archive of past advertised projects.