It is the season for long-awaited road reconstruction projects in Platte County with two kicking off in the last few weeks.
On Monday, Aug. 6, Kansas City second district council members Dan Fowler and Teresa Loar, along with project representatives and partners, held a project groundbreaking at 6500 NW Prairie View Rd.
“Last week we broke ground on the project that in the works for about 20 years, the Old Tiffany Springs Road bridge,” Fowler said. “This one hasn’t been in the works that long, but at times, it seems like it. I remember, two years before I started running for election, I went to an open house for this.
“I can tell you from all the comments we are hearing, the people of this area, particularly just north, are excited for this to happen. For a personal standpoint, I’m very excited for it.”
Loar added, “Every time I come down I-29, north or south, I see the lines lining up for the exit ramp and I get a knot in my stomach. This is progress. This is what we will do to fix it. I wish we had all the TV stations and newspapers to cover this. Everyone up here needs to know we are addressing it and we will make it better.”
This project will include the complete relocation of Prairie View Road on the north side of Northwest 64th Street and realign it with the existing North Chatham Avenue. The project improvements include curb and gutter improvements, asphalt pavement, sidewalks and bike lanes, realignment of driveways and private drives, storm sewer improvements, relocation of water mains and new street lighting.
“We will eliminate a problem and it will be good to help the traffic,” deputy director of public works Ralph Davis said. “It will be a nice improvement and what we try to do on a lot of projects.”
Pyramid Excavating and Construction, Inc., is the contractor. Olsson Associates were the design engineers.
The $2.7 million project was funded with Transportation Development District dollars along with city capital improvement dollars. The project will be completed in spring 2019.
A groundbreaking was also held last week on the new Tiffany Springs Road bridge over Interstate 29. Platte County commissioners and Kansas City council members, along with other project dignitaries, gathered for the groundbreaking on Monday, July 30.
This project will upgrade Old Tiffany Springs Road from Congress Avenue to Skyview Avenue. Improvements include construction of a new four-lane roadway with a median, along with sidewalks and a trail, as well as curb and gutter improvements.
Crews will construct a new bridge over I-29, with Kansas City working with the Missouri Department of Transportation to implement minor lane improvements along I-29. The project will last two years and the existing bridge over I-29 will remain open during the majority of the construction.
The project is funded through a $4 million Federal Surface Transportation Program (STP) grant with remaining funding provided by the KCI Corridor TIF.