Summary of US 169/I-70 Planning and Environmental Linkages Study Implementation

Kansas City, MO

Project Number:	1556
Organization:	Kansas City, MO
Project Name:	US 169/I-70 Planning and Environmental Linkages Study Implementation
City(ies), County(ies), State:	Kansas City, Jackson County, MO
Routes, interchanges and/or intersections:	I-35, I-70, I-670, Missouri Route 9 within the CBD freeway loop
Primary Project Mode:	Highway/roadway
Supplementary Project Mode(s):	* Active Transportation * Bridge * Freight * Highway/Roadway * Transit ) The project will reconstruct portions of the downtown freeway loop which was built in the late 1950’s with the reasonable strategies outlined in the US 169/I-70 PEL study. It will improve traffic flow on the freeway and local street system and will reconnect the street grid in parts. It will improve the Top 100 freight bottleneck at the SW interchange of the loop. This will add multi-modal accommodations where none exist and provide better pedestrian connections to existing ATA service and improve traffic flow on the south loop.
Project Purpose:	* System expansion (added capacity) * System preservation, rehabilitation or replacement * System operations and management * Ecosystem Restoration )
Project Description:	This project implements reasonable strategies as determined of the US 169/I-70 Beyond the Loop Planning and Environmental Linkages (PEL) Study including rebuilding I-70, operational improvement on I-670, and mitigating environmental issues created by the urban expressways with capping portions of the freeway loop. The PEL report and associated appendixes are available at http://www.beyondtheloopkc.com/. The depressed and cut and cover freeways separated numerous neighborhoods and have hindered the economic vitality of the original part of the Kansas City region. The intent of this project is to rebuild infrastructure that was built in the 1950’s in compliance with the PEL study and where possible restore the historic street grid network between the River Market, Columbus Park, Crossroads, East Paseo, Central Business District (CBD). The project will also include a cycle tracks and pedestrian connections as outlined in the BikeKC plan. The project will assist in freight movement by improving the I-670 portion of the loop which includes one of the nation’s top 100 freight bottlenecks with the I-670/US 71 interchange.
Scope:	This project implements reasonable strategies as determined of the US 169/I-70 Beyond the Loop Planning and Environmental Linkages (PEL) Study including rebuilding I-70, operational improvement on I-670, and mitigating environmental issues created by the urban expressways with capping portions of the freeway loop. The PEL report and associated appendixes are available at http://www.beyondtheloopkc.com/. The depressed and cut and cover freeways separated numerous neighborhoods and have hindered the economic vitality of the original part of the Kansas City region. The intent of this project is to rebuild infrastructure that was built in the 1950’s in compliance with the PEL study and where possible restore the historic street grid network between the River Market, Columbus Park, Crossroads, East Paseo, Central Business District (CBD). The project will also include a cycle tracks and pedestrian connections as outlined in the BikeKC plan. The project will assist in freight movement by improving the I-670 portion of the loop which includes one of the nation’s top 100 freight bottlenecks with the I-670/US 71 interchange.
Funding Source:	MoDOT
Total Budget in 2019 Dollars:	$250,000,000
Total Budget in Year of Expenditure dollars (YOE):	$315,000,000
Decade:	2020
Application Score:	165
Constrained / Illustrative:	Constrained
Priority:	Rehab
Adds Capacity:	No

Submitted comments

Please note, only public comments are available for review, which may differ from the total shown on the project listing page.

Steven Howland said...

The final PEL made no determination on I-70. The plan outlined here suggests rebuilding and capping I-70. It should be removed instead as the public comments came out in favor of.

11/8/2019 7:39:00 AM

Liam Dai said...

We need to strong consider REDUCTION and not just restore/maintain. I strongly support the reduction of highway capacity in favor of building out a more robust complete streets and public transit network in their place). i70 should be completely removed from the north loop and Highway 9 brought back to grade in order to reduce pollution and sound emissions, reduce crashes/deaths, open space for parks & redevelopment, and generally improve quality of life in the adjacent area

5/22/2020 5:13:19 PM


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