Overland Park will get roughly double the previously promised federal funding for its 167th Street improvement project in the southern part of the city.
That brings the project’s total award from the U.S. Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act to just over $8 million.
Earlier this week, the Overland Park City Council unanimously voted to approve an agreement with the Kansas Department of Transportation. Such a step allows the city to accept the funds.
Work will improve 167th between Antioch and Switzer
- Today, 167th Street in south Overland Park lacks sidewalks, is generally narrow and lacks a shoulder.
- The city considers it “a major thoroughfare” for the future, according to a project document, particularly as an east-to-west connection.
- The plan now is to expand the street to have two lanes in both directions along the one-mile stretch between Antioch and Switzer roads.
- There will also be a roundabout at the intersection of 167th and Antioch.
- The project will also add a 5-foot sidewalk on the north side of the street and a 10-foot trail on the south side.
- Overland Park also plans to add shoulders, curb and gutter, new signage and more stormwater management infrastructure to the road.
167th Street upgrades are valued at $17M
- Overland Park will now pay for just over half of the project cost with the $8 million in federal funds coming in.
- Construction should begin sometime later this year.
Overland Park eventually wants to widen 167th Street even more
- In the future, 167th Street will likely be widened again.
- The plan is to eventually make it a “four-lane divided thoroughfare,” but the timeline on that isn’t clear.
- If that project happens, the two lanes planned in this improvement project would become the westbound lanes of 167th Street, and two new lanes would be added for eastbound traffic, according to city documents.
Other traffic improvements are planned nearby
- Overland Park plans to improve Switzer Road between 167th and 179th streets in 2026.
- Overland Park and KDOT have also planned a series of improvements to the road as part of the express toll lane project currently under construction on U.S. Highway 69.
- That includes a new interchange, a wider street between Metcalf Avenue and Antioch Road.
- The U.S. Highway 69 bridge over 167th is also expected to be replaced.
More on this: 2 south Overland Park road projects getting fed funds in 2023
