A presentation given by the Kansas Department of Transportation to the Olathe City Council last week had one member asking, “How much can we pay you to not do this?”
KDOT officials were giving the city council a status update on plans for an interchange at K-10 and Lone Elm Road. The interchange is part of a $1.2 billion project to expand K-10’s capacity along a 16.5-mile stretch in Johnson County that passes through De Soto, Lenexa and Olathe.
The interchange, which is one of 13 being considered, would connect North Lone Elm Road in Lenexa and South Lone Elm Road in Olathe. The goal is to lessen traffic congestion on K-10, which would otherwise need to absorb more cars if no interchange were built, according to KDOT.
And while the interchange would increase traffic along Lone Elm Road and 101st Street north of the highway, it would affect fewer residential properties than not having it, the agency says.
Safety concerns and opposition
Lenexa and Olathe residents and councilmembers have expressed safety concerns about the project.
Three schools in Olathe — Olathe Northwest High School, Prairie Trail Middle School and Meadow Lane Elementary — are all within roughly one mile of where the interchange would be, south of K-10 along South Lone Elm Road.
On the Lenexa side, Manchester Park Elementary sits less than two miles away.
With the interchange, cars exiting K-10 onto Lone Elm Road would be met with pedestrians, including children walking to and from school.
Two miles west of the Olathe schools is an Aldi distribution center at the corner of K-10 and K-7 highways, and large trucks regularly travel through the area. The only way to access the distribution center is College Boulevard, which runs past Olathe Northwest.
In December, Olathe councilmembers sent a letter to KDOT expressing their concerns about adding an interchange at Lone Elm. The letter cited potential risks to pedestrians and students, as well as increased traffic and noise near neighborhoods and schools.
“Olathe expects KDOT’s assurance and action to keep semi-trucks out of these school zones. KDOT must fund all improvements to accommodate increased traffic on Lone Elm and for a truck route around the school zones,” the letter read.
Councilmembers and residents in both cities have previously requested that instead of an interchange, KDOT construct an overpass that would allow traffic on Lone Elm to cross over K-10 without drivers on K-10 being able to get on and off the highway.
Earlier this year, residents also created a Change.org petition urging KDOT to pursue the overpass option instead.
“We urge Lenexa to engage with KDOT and Olathe to explore alternative designs that preserve the safety of Lone Elm,” the petition reads.
KDOT says interchange would best ease traffic
At the Olathe City Council meeting earlier this month, councilmembers expressed surprise that the interchange could move forward without Olathe’s approval.
“You probably know an overpass was something that Olathe really wanted, and was wondering, we didn’t have an agreement between the two communities, so how did we decide to do an interchange instead of an overpass,” Councilmember Robyn Essex, who is also a Republican state representative, asked.
Engineers from KDOT explained that they have found that the interchange is the best way to deal with traffic, describing a Lone Elm interchange as a “pressure relief valve” for traffic along a wider stretch of K-10 in Johnson County.
Project Manager Steven Cross told the city council that KDOT believes the interchange will be an improvement.
“There’s a lot of growth happening in the area and traffic volumes continue to grow,” Cross said. “And so by adding on more capacity, it accommodates the growth that’s happening.”
But several Olathe councilmembers weren’t satisfied and reiterated their concerns.
“This plan is to release that pressure right in front of elementary schools and a middle school and a high school, particularly with truck traffic,” Councilmember Matthew Schoonover said. “Why does that override our safety concerns?”
Different priorities between cities
KDOT explained that the interchange is a priority for Lenexa and the city has agreed to pay for two-thirds of the project and KDOT the remaining third.
Lenexa included the interchange in its five-year Capital Improvement Plan, while Olathe did not.
“The Lone Elm interchange is already a part of the city’s existing, adopted CIP and has been for many years,” Lenexa Mayor Julie Sayers said at a Lenexa City Council meeting late last year. “We are happy to hear your feedback, but please understand that this is already an approved project for the city. Nothing in the CIP changes that approval.”
The interchange has the potential to bring in additional economic development and traffic improvements for Lenexa, which KDOT referenced when councilmembers asked “who wants this?” at last week’s meeting.
“So Lenexa’s economic development trumps Olathe’s safety concerns is what I’m hearing,” Schoonover said.
Schoonover pointed out that there isn’t a guarantee for a sound wall on the south side of the interchange, like there is on the north side in Lenexa.
“Problem is: It feels like you’re not even trying to please us,” Schoonover said. “From my standpoint, it kind of looks like a middle finger to Olathe, if I’m being completely honest.”
At one point, Schoonover asked the KDOT officials, “Can we pay you not to do this?”
The Johnson County Post reached out to Lenexa for comment on Schoonover’s remarks after the Olathe meeting last week.
“Planned as early as 1995 and added to Lenexa’s Capital Improvement Program in 2005, the K-10 and Lone Elm interchange remains a vital component of the city’s transportation network,” a Lenexa city spokesperson said in a reply.
Not all Lenexa residents are happy about the project, however. Many have expressed similar concerns about safety for pedestrians and cyclists, particularly the impact on Manchester Park Elementary.
At a Lenexa City Council meeting last month, one resident said the interchange would be “detrimental” to the community.
What comes next?
KDOT noted it may be possible for the city to request that the interchange not connect to South Lone Elm Road in Olathe, a possibility that seemed to appeal to several councilmembers.
Olathe Mayor John Bacon said he thinks there are “a lot of valid concerns about the truck traffic,” but that it would be a mistake not to have South Lone Elm connect with K-10 in the future.
“I think there might be some opportunities for economic development to occur along here in Olathe,” he said.
At the Johnson County Post’s candidate forum on Wednesday, Oct. 8, six Lenexa City Council candidates vying for three seats were asked about the interchange.
Incumbent Councilmember Bill Nicks and challenger Nicole Wasson, vying for a seat in Ward 2 where the interchange would be, said they were both in favor of the overpass option and said they will make safety around a new interchange a priority if elected.
KDOT is still in the design and budgeting phase of the project and funding is not yet secured.
