Lewis and Clark Viaduct (I-70) Kansas City

[route56]

KDOT held a public meeting on the replacement of the Lewis and Clark Viaduct in Kansas City.

A copy of the study handout is available here: http://www.ksdot.org/subsites/lewis-and-clark/LCViaductI70/PDFs/LewisClarkI7-Factsheet-2012-08-13FINAL.pdf

Ultimately, the plans are to re-align I-70 to remove the 35 MPH curve, and provide two travel lanes each direction with full shoulders. Funding has been allocated and planning has begun on the first phase - the replacement of the westbound span. Construction is anticipated to be in the fall of 2016.

Things I found interesting:

• There was someone there talking with one of the engineers about what he felt was poor signage, particularly at the 7th Street exit. (where US 69 drops off and US 169 joins I-70) Although this is outside the project, maybe arrow-per-lane signage could help.
  
  
• The bridge slated to be replaced first is considered to be in worse condition, but is *not* the older bridge. The original 1907 eastbound bridge is considered to be in better condition than the newer span. The KDOT engineers mentioned a couple of reasons: The original bridge had rail traffic on the lower deck, and a interurban alongside the roadway - meaning that the bridge was built to handle heavier loads; and that they did things in the 1960s that they later found were not good ideas.