JACKSON COUNTY, MO — The Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) Kansas City has completed the Interstate 435 South Loop Link design/build project. This project has completely rebuilt more than three miles of pavement through one of Kansas City’s top three regional commuter corridors, added an additional lane in both eastbound and westbound directions, and replaced and rehabilitated five bridges. This is a heavily traveled route that winds from the northern part of the metro southbound, eventually curving west to the Kansas state line and exceeds daily traffic counts of 150,000 vehicles a day.

The Radmacher-Wilson team that was awarded the project understood that minimizing the impacts to the public during peak travel hours was a large project goal. The key to its success was all about shifting traffic. The team built new lanes along the outside of the existing footprint, then shifted traffic to and away from where they needed to work next, completing the bridge work in place simultaneously. The crew was able to maintain four lanes through most morning and afternoon peak travel hours since breaking ground in spring 2018.

MoDOT’s method of delivering large-scale projects through a design-build format is relatively new. Design-build includes hiring a consultant to complete design and construction under one contract. MoDOT provides project goals, budget, and schedule. This technique is proven to significantly save time and money. Some other very successful design-build projects include the Christopher S. Bond Bridge over the Missouri River and the Safe and Sound Bridge Improvement Project, which replaced more than 800 bridges under one contract. The next anticipated design-build contract is the U.S. 169 Buck O’Neil Bridge.