Overland Park wants to widen U.S. Highway 69

Overland Park officials are making their pitch for funding to complete plans for widening U.S. 69 Highway.

Mayor Carl Gerlach and Public Works Director Doug Brown went before a state transportation task force last week to make the case for widening the highway from four lanes to six between 75th and 167th streets.

Funding for design work totaling $63 million already has been spent on the plan, but more money is needed for construction. Brown said the project would cost an estimated $375 million, and that a combination of federal, state and local funds would be used.

Gov. Kathleen Sebelius appointed the 33-member task force, called Transportation-Leveraging Investments in Kansas, or T-LINK, to gather information from communities statewide regarding their transportation needs and priorities. The state’s current 10-year transportation funding program is coming to an end, so a new plan is being developed.

Gerlach outlined a variety of reasons why 69 Highway should be a priority.

The city forecasts that commute times in the proposed project area could nearly triple by 2020. It is estimated that more than 200,000 people will live south of Interstate 435 by that time, and that the area will be home to metropolitan Kansas City’s second-largest job market.

The city reports that 90,000 jobs exist within a three-mile radius of U.S. 69 and I-435, and that the jobs total is anticipated to rise to 135,000 by 2020.

In addition to the congestion relief and economic development considerations, the city notes the current road surface "is nearing the end of its useful life (and) needs to be rebuilt within the next six to 10 years."

Safety concerns also are being cited. The city reports that accidents on U.S. 69 increased 22 percent between 2002 and 2006.

The stretch of highway involved now accounts for 10 percent of all accidents in the city, and the accident rate there is 45 percent higher than the state average for similar roadway types, a city fact sheet states.

All improvements in recent years on U.S. 69 have been done to accommodate the hoped-for widening project.

The 69 Highway bridge currently being built over I-435, for instance, was designed to handle a six-lane roadway, Brown said.

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