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."