The Olathe City Council recently got a first look at the design concepts for the rebuild of Santa Fe Street and I-35.
City staff presented the plans, which include decorative fencing, landscaped medians and lighting, on Sept. 1.
The $200 million overhaul is the largest infrastructure project in Olathe’s history.
The city is covering $40 million of the project, with the Kansas Department of Transportation funding the remaining $160 million.
Construction is set to begin later this year.
Design continuity with downtown
Assistant City Engineer Therese Vink said the interchange’s design is intended to serve as a transition between I-35 and downtown Olathe.
“We really want the focal point of this to be on Santa Fe itself and not on the experience of I-35 as you drive underneath Santa Fe,” Vink said at the meeting.
A wave design will run across the overhead signal structure and continue down its supports. A similar pattern will appear on retaining walls and parts of the bridge seen from I-35.
The bridge will also feature a double-helix design modeled after fencing used along 119th Street. Medians will have a brick-patterned concrete to mimic the streets downtown.
Landscaping will be concentrated on and immediately around the interchange. Medians at least 18 feet wide will include trees, while narrower medians will have smaller plants.
Pedestrian safety
The rebuilt corridor will include a 10-foot-wide sidewalk on the north side of Santa Fe and a 5-foot wide sidewalk on the south side, extending from Ridgeview to Mur-Len roads.
Vink said the sidewalks have been positioned as far from traffic lanes as possible, with landscaping and decorative brick providing additional barriers.
Councilmember Matthew Schoonover asked whether the city should be encouraging people to walk or bike through such a busy intersection.
“We are not trying to increase pedestrian traffic,” Vink said. “We are simply providing a safe method for them to get across that happens to be a lot prettier than it is today.”
Councilmember Kevin Deneault asked the city to consider additional measures that would make the route more inviting for pedestrians and bicyclists.
The interchange will include standard streetlights and lights beneath the bridge barriers to help illuminate the pedestrian route.
Full project
The full project includes new bridges, pavement reconstruction and widening, road realignments, new signals, medians, sidewalks and streetlights.
he Kansas Department of Transportation will be adding auxiliary lanes to I-35 between Santa Fe and 119th Street, reconstruct portions of I-35 and widen the Old 56 Highway bridge to accommodate two lanes.
