69Express Construction Passes the Halfway Mark
The 69Express design-build highway project is moving at express-lane speed. The Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) project in Overland Park hit the 50 percent complete mark this summer.
Ames Construction serves as the managing partner of US69 Express Constructors, a joint venture project with Emery Sapp & Sons. The partners are reconstructing six miles of U.S. 69 to accommodate the state’s first-ever express lanes, with the goal of reducing congestion on one of Kansas’ busiest highways.
Crossroads reopened
While continuing construction of mainline U.S. 69, the project team will complete work at three crossroads in 2024. Intersections at 139th and 143rd Streets were completed in the spring and reopened on schedule. The 119th Street interchange is on schedule to reopen this fall. These local roads were widened for additional capacity, and feature added trails, sidewalks, and other safety and aesthetic improvements. Three more crossroads will be reconstructed in 2025.
The project is on track to hit another milestone this fall with a major traffic pattern change. Mainline traffic remains open during the project, and the upcoming switch will move traffic to completed sections of pavement throughout the corridor.
Work is also progressing on the project’s seven miles of noise walls, while construction of the project’s 25+ bridges is about 70 percent complete. For concrete mainline paving, two batch plants are set up to service nearly 700,000 square yards of 12-inch paving. This paving is about 44 percent complete.
Team building, Kansas BBQ-style
With more than 50 local and new coworkers hired for the project plus support from multiple Ames regions, team-building events with crews, partners, and KDOT have helped to build strong relationships from the beginning.
Ames has hosted mass safety meetings and barbeques (it’s Kansas City, after all!), including an event at which KDOT management shared their appreciation for the team. KDOT and Ames have also hosted a public meeting that gave residents an opportunity to visit with project staff, ask questions, and learn about schedule updates.
The project is set to open the express toll lane in late 2025, ahead of substantial completion in late 2026.
