I-435 South Loop Link Opens the Way to Shorter Commutes

Interstate 435 through Kansas City is a heavily traveled route that winds from the northern part of the metro southbound, eventually curving west to the Kansas state line. It is one of the top three regional commuter corridors and exceeds daily traffic counts of 150,000 vehicles during any given rush hour. Until very recently, it was severely congested and several bridges needed major work.

Cue the I-435 South Loop Link Design Build project: a solution that has completely rebuilt more than three miles of pavement through this key arterial, added an additional lane in both eastbound and westbound directions, replaced and rehabilitated five bridges – all without disrupting commuters during their peak travel times.

The Radmacher-Wilson team that was awarded the project understood that minimizing the impacts to the public during peak travel hours was a large project goal. The key to its success was all about shifting traffic. The team built new lanes along the outside of the existing footprint, then shifted traffic to and away from where they needed to work next, completing the bridge work in place simultaneously. To date, they have maintained four lanes through every morning and afternoon peak travel hours since breaking ground spring 2018. The project is nearly complete and will be finished on time.

One customer expressed their delight with the progress of the project. Gerald Schmalzried, a resident of Leadwood, KS regularly drove along I-435 between Three Trails Crossing and State Line Rd.

“I have been thoroughly impressed with how quickly MoDOT managed to add a new lane to a busy interstate while nearly always maintaining four 55 MPH lanes for us commuters; and how you threw in some bridge upgrades and ramp changes as well,” states Schmalzried in an email to a MoDOT Area Engineer.

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