Work adding toll lanes to U.S. Highway 69 through Overland Park continues in 2025, moving full steam ahead toward an anticipated major completion date later this year.
Officials with the Kansas Department of Transportation say their focus is on the last couple of major milestones on what is known as the 69Express project, including fully replacing bridges over Interstate 435 and adding a remade interchange at 167th Street.
“Most of the work in 2025 is going to be down at the two ends [of the project],” 69Express Project Director Steve Rockers said.
Find more information about what’s planned this year with a virtual open house meeting available here.
167th Street ramps to close in April
- This spring, 167th Street under and near US-69, as well as the ramps from the highway to the street, will close for about 180 days.
- That will give crews time to reconstruct it and build out the interchange by adding ramps to the south side.
- With that work, KDOT will also tie in the 69Express project improvements with the city of Overland Park’s recently completed 167th Street upgrades.
- Currently, the expectation is to start that work in April and finish it in October.
69Express roadwork around I-435 planned, too
- Besides rebuilding US-69 bridges over I-435, KDOT is also planning to rebuild other bridges on the northern end of the project this year, Rockers said.
- Throughout that work, there may be some daily lane closures and periodic ramp closures, said Matt Bechtel, a traffic coordinator for the project.
- Specific dates for those impacts are unclear at this point, but Bechtel predicted they will likely occur in late spring and early summer.
Express lanes are scheduled to open in 2026
With the project on track to be “substantially completed this year,” Rockers said that also means the express toll lanes — the main feature of the whole project — will be finished soon.
That portion of the project, which has been happening alongside interchange upgrades and other improvements over the past few years, will add express toll lanes onto about six miles of U.S. Highway 69 between 103rd and 151st streets.
Express toll lanes function without traditional toll booths and tickets but charge drivers for their use by scanning license plates and K-TAGs from the Kansas Turnpike Authority.
The toll fee will only apply to drivers in the dedicated “express” lanes, which will be on the left of existing lanes going both north and south on US-69. Fees will be set based on time of day, amount of traffic and how long a driver stays in the toll lane.
The express toll lanes are expected to come online in January 2026.
What’s left to do on 69Express project?
- This is the third year of construction on the 69Express project and the final year where major construction work is planned.
- Once the work around I-435 is finished and the new 167th Street interchange opens, there’s not much left to do.
- Rockers said there could still be some minor work in 2026, like seeding, lane stripping and building more noise walls.
Keep reading: Here’s a timeline for U.S. 69 toll lane project in Overland Park
