Crews are preparing to tear down the 155th Street bridge over I-49 near Belton and Grandview.
"The project is based on the need for the bridge," explained Matt Killion, engineer for MoDOT. "It has outlived its service life. It's over 50 years old."
Crews are preparing to tear down the 155th Street bridge over I-49 near Belton, Missouri. pic.twitter.com/TU6iZ2fCWP
— 41 Traffic Now (@41TrafficNow) January 31, 2017
Demolition begins Friday, February 10 at 10 p.m. and lasts all weekend. Cass and Jackson County drivers will have to take a detour during that time. I-49 traffic will be diverted to one lane on the 155th Street ramps until 5 a.m. on Monday morning.
The 155th Street bridge will remain closed until the new bridge is completed by December 1.
Detours:
- Westbound detour - Kelley Road north to Route 150 west, to Botts Road south, to Westover Road/Andrews Road and then south to 155th Street.
- Eastbound detour - Andrews Road/Westover Road north to Botts Road north, to Route 150 East, to Kelley Road south and then to 155th Street.
On Monday, February 13, I-49 will be reopened to traffic with two lanes northbound and southbound to allow for bridge construction in the median until Friday, March 24.
The southbound I-49 off ramp and on ramp will also be closed for construction on the west side of I-49 on 155th Street. MoDOT says drivers may want to take an alternate route during rush hour.
"While they are replacing the bridge, we are going to try to address the congestion at the interchange and make some changes to try and make things better for the traveling public," said Killion.
The interchange will be a diverging diamond where traffic crosses over to the opposite side of the road.
"The diverging diamond works well when you have a lot of left turning traffic off of the interstate ramps," said Killion.
Then on the east side, there will be a roundabout to connect 155th to the outer roads and the ramps to and from I-49.
"A couple reasons why that design is good, it stays within our existing footprint," said Killion. "We didn't have to acquire a bunch of right-of-way to build the project. It also handles the traffic better."
The design will also provide ADA compliant accommodations for pedestrians and bicyclists.
I-49 carries about 80,000 cars a day and traffic on 155th Street is about 6,000 cars a day.
The project is in coordination with the cities of Grandview, Belton and KCMO.
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Jade DeGood can be reached at Jade.DeGood@KSHB.com.
