Kansas

[The Ghostbuster]

If they ever do reconstruct that interchange, they should move the left-handed ramps to the right-handed side and add the missing movements within the interchange.

[mvak36]

Driving to the airport last week in the rain, I got stuck in traffic trying to get from NB I-35 to I-635, and it made me wonder if reconstructing this interchange is on literally anyone's radar at KDOT. It's just a complete shitshow of an interchange:

- Only one lane from NB 35 to 635, causing backups in the left lane on 35
- Weaving of traffic between SB 635 and NB 35, all on a one-lane C-D road on the left side of NB 35
- Oops, all left exits!

I spent 15 minutes just trying to get from Shawnee Mission Parkway to 635, and there wasn't a crash or any other reason I could see for the traffic to back up -- though there easily could have been a crash with all the people trying to get over to the left lane to exit and the suddenly slowing traffic in what should be the fast lane. I know it's hemmed in by railroad tracks to the north and Turkey Creek to the south, but in the words of every infomercial ever, "there's got to be a better way!"

As best I could tell from my cursory search, KDOT doesn't have any plans to study this interchange, and even MARC's 2050 Transportation Plan doesn't include it.

It's long overdue. I avoid that area during the rush hours unless I'm going continuing straight through on I-35. I mentioned it in one of the IKE Local Consult meetings a few years ago but I am not sure if anyone else has complained about it.

[kphoger]

It's been a while since I've driven through KC on I-35, but my usual routes were these:

Off-peak hours = I-35 through downtown
Approaching rush hour = I-635 and I-29 back to I-35
Rush hour = via Topeka on KTA, I-435 and MO-152 back to I-35

I once did a southbound trip right at the afternoon rush and had good luck going MO-152 to I-435 all the way back to I-35 in Lenexa.

[rte66man]

It's been a while since I've driven through KC on I-35, but my usual routes were these:

Off-peak hours = I-35 through downtown
Approaching rush hour = I-635 and I-29 back to I-35
Rush hour = via Topeka on KTA, I-435 and MO-152 back to I-35

I once did a southbound trip right at the afternoon rush and had good luck going MO-152 to I-435 all the way back to I-35 in Lenexa.

I've been traveling from OKC to Minnesota for 40+ years and that is EXACTLY the travel plan I use. I do wish they could do something about 152 east from 635 to 35. Too many traffic lights

[kphoger]

I do wish they could do something about 152 east from 635 to 35. Too many traffic lights

I don't think I've used that route since they built the frankenterchange at MO-152/I-35.  Did that help at all?

I eventually just started planning a pit stop at the Phillips station, just so the stoplights would seem less annoying.

[Sani]

FHWA gave the K-10 Johnson County project a FONSI last month, so now it's just down to finding $1.2 billion under the couch cushions. From the Johnson County Post:

Project to expand K-10 in Johnson County earns key federal approval. What happens now?

The $1.2 billion plan for the 16.5-mile stretch from the Douglas County line to I-435 will widen it to 3 lanes and add an interchange at Lone Elm Road.

Plans to improve a 16.5-mile stretch of Kansas Highway 10 and ease traffic congestion through a growing part of Johnson County have passed a crucial step, allowing the project to move forward.

The Kansas Department of Transportation announced earlier this summer that the K-10 Corridor Capacity Improvements plan, a $1.2 billion project along K-10 highway, has received the required approval from the Federal Highway Administration.

As traffic is expected to increase in the next three decades, receiving federal approval allows the project to now move into the design phase.

...

The project would add a third lane each way

As more traffic is expected to come through the K-10 Corridor over the next three decades, the highway as it is currently built will be unable to handle it, according to KDOT.

"The corridor insufficiently meets current and future mobility needs, resulting in worsening safety, reliability and congestion. There is also a need to provide transportation improvements that offer long-term sustainability and flexibility for all users," according to a KDOT open house presentation.

To accommodate that, the proposed plans include widening the roadway by building a third lane in each direction.

KDOT also plans on adding a new tight diamond interchange at Lone Elm Road.

"The team's analysis showed that adding an interchange at K-10 and Lone Elm, overall, it improved traffic operations across the network," Steven Cross, KDOT's project manager, said in April.

...

Lone Elm interchange has garnered pushback

One part of the design some Lenexa residents and Olathe city leaders are fearing is the proposed interchange a K-10 and Lone Elm Road.

Currently, K-10 breaks up Lone Elm Road, which curves into two different roads that run parallel to the highway — 102nd Terrace on the Lenexa side to the north, and 103rd Terrace on the Olathe side to the south.

On a recent weekday morning, Lenexa resident Alexis Guetzlaff walked down Lone Elm Road to point out where the proposed interchange would likely go and how she thinks it will affect residential neighborhoods nearby.

She has helped lead neighbors into protesting the interchange idea currently on the table. Guetzlaff and her neighbors prefer an overpass over an interchange because it would prevent semi-trucks and other cars from coming directly off the highway and entering their neighborhoods.

Hearing that the project was given a "Finding of No Significant Impact" was disappointing but not surprising, she said.

"We're very disappointed," she said. "I would also say that this process is exhausting, and we have made our dissatisfaction with the project very clear."

The fears from neighbors, Guetzlaff said, include putting childrens' safety at risk who are walking to Manchester Park Elementary School nearby in Olathe.

"We've got elementary schoolers from 5 to 11 walking to school along (100th Street) and they will need to cross Lone Elm. Right now, that is not a dangerous crossing, because there is very limited traffic there. And when we add in highway traffic, semi trucks, all sorts of traffic that is not associated with the school, we create a very, very big safety concern."

[roadman65]

https://www.facebook.com/share/1C2yTRso7u/
Info on proposed Kingman Bypass at a meeting coming up.

[The Ghostbuster]

I'll check back to see what will be revealed about the project at the PIM tonight.

[Great Lakes Roads]

Nine (9) new projects to be moved to the construction pipeline.

Some of the highlighted projects on that list are:
- District 1: Replace Centennial Bridge & expand to 4 lanes (Leavenworth County) $157 million for FY 2028 start
- District 1: Interchange construction at K-10 & Lone Elm Road (Johnson County) $43 million for FY 2030 start
- District 5: Reconstruct K-96 to six-lane expressway & interchange improvements at Rock and Woodlawn (Sedgwick County) $120 million for FY 2029 start

[Sani]

Interesting that they made the K-10 and Lone Elm Road interchange one of the three projects in District 1, since local residents and the city council of Olathe have been so vocal in their opposition to it. I live in Shawnee, and I know the city as making a big push for people to come to the KDOT meeting at Great Wolf Lodge a few weeks back and ask for an interchange at K-7 and 75th Street. The city has been asking for that for quite some time, but there haven't been any serious studies about it since before the K-7 and Johnson Drive interchange was built in 2011 or so.

[Great Lakes Roads]

The I-135/I-70 interchange in Salina will be upgraded from a cloverleaf to...

A CLOVERSTACK!

Alternative 1

Alternative 2

[Plutonic Panda]

Would be better just to make it a full stack.

[kphoger]

Would be better just to make it a full stack.

Why?  Did you find AADT data for each ramp?  I briefly looked but didn't find that information.

[Bobby5280]

Alternative 1 (half directional stack, half cloverleaf) looks like it takes up slightly less space (less additional ROW) than Alternative 2. But the two directional flyover ramps will probably cost more to build since long lengths of the ramps would be elevated on bridge structures.

Alternative 2 looks like the start of a pinwheel interchange, but with 2 cloverleaf ramps on the inside. It seems like a complete pinwheel interchange wouldn't cost much more to build. The on/off ramps would be situated mostly on earthwork berms with short bridges crossing other ramps and main lanes.

The main benefit of either design alternative is eliminating the weaving conflicts that occur with cloverleaf interchanges.

The PDF diagrams are pretty basic in nature. They don't show any lane details, like if the on/off ramps have one or two lanes.

[Sani]

Now that the Chiefs are moving to Wyandotte County near the I-70 and I-435 interchange, I wonder if KDOT will work on accelerating some or all of the projects from the 2010 I-435 / I-70 / Village West Regional Transportation Study. One of the projects, reconstruction of the I-435 and State Avenue interchange to a DDI, was added to the IKE program in 2021, but no construction date has been announced. The recommendation for a DDI was included in the 2010 study. Exhibits showing the recommended upgrades (scroll down to the last few pages to see the proposed designs):

I-70 Interchange — Would replace the loop ramp from NB 435 to WB 70 with a flyover ramp, but otherwise the interchange remains as-is
State Avenue Interchange — In addition to the DDI at I-435, includes a small SPUI replacing the intersection at Village West Parkway
Parallel Parkway — Either a diamond interchange or a DDI

[mvak36]

Now that the Chiefs are moving to Wyandotte County near the I-70 and I-435 interchange, I wonder if KDOT will work on accelerating some or all of the projects from the 2010 I-435 / I-70 / Village West Regional Transportation Study. One of the projects, reconstruction of the I-435 and State Avenue interchange to a DDI, was added to the IKE program in 2021, but no construction date has been announced. The recommendation for a DDI was included in the 2010 study. Exhibits showing the recommended upgrades (scroll down to the last few pages to see the proposed designs):

I-70 Interchange — Would replace the loop ramp from NB 435 to WB 70 with a flyover ramp, but otherwise the interchange remains as-is
State Avenue Interchange — In addition to the DDI at I-435, includes a small SPUI replacing the intersection at Village West Parkway
Parallel Parkway — Either a diamond interchange or a DDI

More of a wish list item for me but I wouldn't mind if they also finish the whole Lewis and Clark Viaduct (I-70) as a result of this. Not sure how much of the game day traffic from MO will come via downtown.

[Henry]

The I-135/I-70 interchange in Salina will be upgraded from a cloverleaf to...

A CLOVERSTACK!

Alternative 1

Alternative 2

Of the two, I like the second one better.

[kphoger]

I do too, just because I think the NB→WB movement loop ramp should go away.  The other loop is fine to stay, but not that one.

[Scott5114]

Now that the Chiefs are moving to Wyandotte County near the I-70 and I-435 interchange

Are we sure that they're going into the Village West/Legends area? Everything that I had read when the announcement was made was vague as to where, exactly, in Wyandotte County the new stadium was going to be. At least one article said that the stadium would be the anchor of a new development which sounded like the goal was to be a Legends clone.

[Bobby5280]

If they're going to build the new stadium near the western I-70/I-435 interchange it looks like the area around Southwest corner might offer the most advantages. It's near the I-70 exit for S 110th Street. It's a standard diamond exit. Any location chosen near the I-70/I-435 interchange is going to involve buying and removing existing properties.

[Sani]

The new U.S. 69 Express Lanes in Johnson County will officially open on February 21st.

[Sani]

If they're going to build the new stadium near the western I-70/I-435 interchange it looks like the area around Southwest corner might offer the most advantages. It's near the I-70 exit for S 110th Street. It's a standard diamond exit. Any location chosen near the I-70/I-435 interchange is going to involve buying and removing existing properties.

It sounds like they're looking at a plot of land west of The Legends bounded by State Avenue, Parallel Parkway, North 118th Street, and North 126th Street. Which, if true, will put it in the running for worst stadium location in the country. But hey, at least you can stop by the new Buc-ee's on your way to the game, I guess...

[Bobby5280]

It wouldn't be the first time a major sports stadium was located in a spot bounded by regular surface streets. SoFi Stadium is a similar arrangement; the I-405 and I-105 freeways are 1.5 miles away. As far as I can tell there are no light rail/subway lines by SoFi Stadium either; the nearest such train line is along I-105.

If they do build the new KC Chiefs stadium in that location Speedway Blvd coming off Exit 410 of I-70 will be jammed like hell on game days.

[Sani]

The new U.S. 69 Express Lanes in Johnson County will officially open on February 21st.

69Express uploaded some videos to YouTube providing driver views of the express lanes going northbound and southbound.

Southbound Drive-Through

(Note that they got rid of the dancing arrows for southbound traffic going to I-435!)

Northbound Drive-Through

Southbound Blue Valley Parkway Drive-Through

[minneha]

If they do build the new KC Chiefs stadium in that location Speedway Blvd coming off Exit 410 of I-70 will be jammed like hell on game days.

I think the exit would be more jammed if the stadium was closer to the exit, because there wouldn't be as much roadway on which to stage cars before the cars got to the exit. It's 1.5 miles from the corner of State Avenue and Speedway Boulevard to the I-70 exit at North 110th Street. And I believe that entire 1.5 miles of Speedway Boulevard is four lanes. That's a lot of roadway on which to stage cars in order to keep the traffic moving.

Another thing is that if the stadium is on State Avenue between North 118th Street and North 126th Street, a lot of people will go west on State Avenue to US-73/K-7, which is a four-lane highway. From there, they could go south to Johnson County on K-7 (four-lane highway) or get on I-70. People coming from the west, like Lawrence, Topeka, or Wichita would probably go that way rather than go east on Speedway and have to backtrack. And some traffic will take the I-435 exits on Parallel Parkway and State Avenue. People coming from the northland or the airport could exit I-435 at Parallel Parkway and go west to the stadium. So there would essentially be three major highways carrying traffic to and from the stadium.

I actually think it's smart to build the stadium further away from the highway exits, because that way you can send gameday traffic in different directions on the arterials and lessen congestion at the highway exits.