A key section of Shawnee Mission Parkway is going down from three lanes to two lanes starting today, Dec. 4.
Between Interstate 35 and Antioch Road, the right lane of eastbound Shawnee Mission Parkway will be closed starting Dec. 4 due to a utility undergrounding project in front of the Merriam Grand Station redevelopment.
The city of Merriam has been working with Evergy, the power utility company that services the city and Johnson County, on this project for more than a year.
This comes nearly a year after Merriam approved $5 million — $4 million for the project itself and a $1 million contingency — to install underground utilities along the stretch of this key corridor connecting northeast Johnson County to Shawnee.
The right lane of eastbound Shawnee Mission Parkway is expected to be closed for three months, according to a city of Merriam press release.
What the project calls for
- Overhead utility lines running east-west along Shawnee Mission Parkway between I-35 and just east of Antioch Road are being installed underground through this project.
- Utility lines that run north-south along Antioch Road between 62nd and 64th terraces are part of this project, too.
- The $5 million project, financialy supported by the city’s I-35 tax increment financing fund, is intended to beautify the corridor and improve utility services in the area. (Some northeast Johnson Countians with underground utility lines still experience prolonged, repeated power outages. Read more here.)

The project was supposed to be done at the end of this year
- When the city approved the $5 million project last year, the utility undergrounding was estimated for completion by the end of 2024.
- While a majority of plans related to the project were submitted on April 9, according to city documents, the city and Evergy were working on obtaining an easement until July.
- Then, Evergy took the project out to bid for much of the second half of this year, according to city documents.
- Now, the project is estimated to be completed by mid-July 2025, according to a city press release.
Merriam is anticipating additional road closures
- The right lane of eastbound Shawnee Mission Parkway is closing as the first part of this project.
- Other phases of the project include undergrounding utilities on three other sections, such as Slater Street north of Shawnee Mission Parkway to the south of 62nd Terrace.
- Drivers can expect additional lane closures as work continues, but access to East Frontage Road (just east of I-35) is open, according to a city press release.
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