Posted on 11/08/2017 7:58:38 PM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
With winter fast approaching, one of the deadliest Kansas City road construction seasons in recent memory is coming to a close.
Crews last week removed the concrete safety barriers along the Interstate 435 pavement reconstruction project in Overland Park.
It’s one of several road projects that have caused major crashes, inspiring the department of transportation in Kansas to add rumble strips to the I-435 project.
The first season of the two-year project is complete, and crews re-striped the highway over the weekend. The 140,000 vehicles that travel that road every day now can move along the original lanes.
The $16.34 million pavement reconstruction project between U.S. 69 and Metcalf Avenue is also on schedule and still expected to be completed in November of next year.
“We cannot do certain things during the winter months when we are at freezing temperatures and with certain types of precipitation,” said Nicole Randall, director of communications for the Kansas Department of Transportation.
“Pouring concrete and things like that can happen only with certain temperatures.”
This year’s construction season has been marred by crashes, including deadly ones on both sides of the state line in the Kansas City area.
The I-435 pavement project proved to be one of the most troublesome with several crashes, including fiery ones, occurring in the work zone.
▪ In April, crashes that involved a tractor-trailer moved more than 40 temporary barriers, splitting one in half. Video showed sparks flying as the tractor-trailer slammed into the barriers.
▪ On July 11, a tractor-trailer hit a concrete barrier and caught fire.
▪ On July 17, a fiery rush hour crash involving five vehicles shut down the highway. Willie “Darryl” Wilson, who was pulled from the fiery crash, died weeks later.
(Excerpt) Read more at kansascity.com ...
More work zone mayhem. Carelessness of drivers undoubtedly contributed.
“We cannot do certain things during the winter months when we are at freezing temperatures and with certain types of precipitation,” said Nicole Randall, director of communications for the Kansas Department of Transportation.
“Pouring concrete and things like that can happen only with certain temperatures.”
They shouldn’t construct deadly roads. That’s just wrong.
Seriously, when I first came to Nashville, I saw several instances where they would close 3 lanes of a 4 lane expressway at once, with little notice. And I’ve seen many other instances where they just don’t pay attention to safety when they are working on roads.
There is one section of road that I avoid during rush hour, because an exit ramp backs up around a curve that has no visibility. Cars come around that curve at 70 miles an hour and have a choice of slamming on the brakes or shifting left into lanes they have little visibility to.
I’ve seen one car flattened there. And I really think multiple people should go to prison for creating a deadly road and for failure to address it.
Last time I went through/around that town I ended up going eats west north south, east west north south, east west...passed downtown about three times on the south side.
2 hours.
They can kiss my Royal Canadian if I ever go through there again, EVER.
Its the usual for me, down through Salina from I 80 at York NB, hit 50 and drop down to 54 and west from there to Tucumscary NM and I 40 west. Used to go to Co and drop down from there to CO Springs on the back roads-cant remember the name of the town but I think the road was 17? Cant remember, but the Raton pass can be a real nasty place in the wrong time of year. That and you end up just a couple hours east of Tucumscary anyways, unless you go through Santa Fe NM....I call it Tucumscary. Albesquirtkee is bad enough without going through Santa Fe.
I hate driving through NM. That and Iowa. And Ill. And...
Unless the construction crews put the barriers blocking across the travel lanes, the only people responsible for the wrecks were the drivers.
Not so fond memories of drives through KC.
Road construction on the Missouri side was madness.
On the Kansas side was sheer insanity.
Both were on a Chicago scale of stupid.
Drivers needed to be particularly careful in those areas, but most weren’t.
I was in Overland Park last week for work. First time there in several years. I drove a lot on 435. The construction zone was so poorly marked and dangerous I forgot all about it.
I’m wracking my brain trying to even remember if there was construction there.
Here’s an idea drivers. Learn to drive.
What is now the I-435 corridor was my back yard bean field growing up. After I turned 14, they started cutting it east to west to build 435 and I lost my easy access to the Indian Creek area over by Halls farm. So for over 50 years they have been “improving it.”
Johnson County in the 40s, 50s and very early 60s was suburbs bordered by ranch and farm fields — ideal for a kid.
Later in life as a young man, I lived just off of 1-35 in 1970. They were widening it and improving it where the Turkey Creek drainage was not properly planned for in the original design. We used to talk about the life duration of the Sun, Sol, and say that its a shame that the Sun would not last long enough for I-35 construction improvements to be finished.
“Sun would not last long enough for I-35 construction improvements to be finished.”
Boy aint that the truth. The “new” I-11 to go thru Kingman..what a JOKE. They could have run that road up thru to Dolan Springs and cut off 40 miles to Vegas from Phoenix. But NOOOO they gotta run it west to Kingman and then up to Vegas, Eff Kingman..the place is run by nothing but a bunch of toothless good ol boys who are drooling for some kickbacks. Biggest bunch of crooks I ever saw.
They are designing I-11 this way to make use of US 93, which is almost in freeway condition for much of its length. Upgrading US 93 into I-11 is cheaper than building new.
UH Huh! And I am an airline pilot.
OK. Then explain what course they intend on taking to connect 93 to I-40 at Kingman?
Instead of taking off at Golden Valley south/west around the Cerbats and connect west of town at the old route 66 interchange, they want to go over the Coyote Pass. That way, they would only have to build ONE overpass over 68. All the interchanges are in except for the overpass.
When they go over that pass on 93, they havent anyplace to go other than just south/west of all the truck stops and make a huge rock cut to connect. That is, unless they intend on demolishing all the truck stops at that interchange...which I wouldnt be against. If they try and go to the north/east of there, they run into a historical site, tons of houses, and the Cerbats on the side of town.
The I-70 commute from east of town is the real torture. Not deadly like I-435 but that’s because traffic moves so slow that it can’t hurt anyone.
Sorry but nothing is on the Chicago scale of stupid but Chicago.
Coming into town a couple of years ago on I-290. Traffic was crawling. After about half an hour we came to the cause - a car stalled in one of the center lanes. Two little kids in back smiling and flipping the bird at every car that passed them. Gotta love the Windy City.
Well, now I have a different take as a new Arizonan as of 2012.
We have this great Colorado River and Lake access to that valley with many cities that struggle to get the right amount of tourism and development. Highway 66 re-route for I-40 changed every bit of access for that chain of small cities.
A limited access interstate with no slow downs or stops can afford to curve around to provide connective access, it won’t slow down the run to Vegas that much.
I will agree there is a lot of good-ol’-boy politics in Bullhead, Kingman, Lake Havasu but I am more interested in going to those cities than I am to Los Wages. The route is not all that bad now — just desolate without safety and services.
I can attest that this particular work zone was badly orchestrated, although that may have been the best of all bad choices.
We lost a car due to road construction in KC. Right on I435 and I69. Hit something on an access ramp (there was always debri all over the zones) I felt something snap under my feet and hit the bottom of the car. Next thing we knew we were driving on three tires and dragging the front passenger tire. Managed to get pulled off and stopped. Car ruined.
Only good thing was a ride home from a very nice police officer. He let me ride in front and ran the lights for me. :) So many other close calls out there this year. It’s been crazy and deadly.
The Missouri side was just as bad. Because it’s interstate system inclusion was designed early in the program, they didn’t get enough right of way for interchanges. Buddies that were in Civil Engineering used to tell me of text books in college that used KCMO interchanges as examples of classic poor design.
When I made pickups in Michigan that were headed west I would go up and over into Wisconsin whenever I could rather than deal with Chicago.
The best thing about Chicago?
Seeing it disappear in your mirrors.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.