The Kansas Department of Transportation is inching closer to adding express toll lanes to relieve major traffic jams on U-S Highway 69. After two decades contending with traffic congestion and high collision rates on the Overland Park stretch of the highway, KDOT proposed the solution at a Overland Park City Council Monday night. The project would add an express lane going each direction between 103rd Street and 179th Street. Under the current proposal, drivers would have the option of paying the toll to use the faster lane or not. Deputy Transportation Secretary Lindsey Douglas sought to reiterate that tolls are associated only with express lanes. “People that use U.S. 69 today can continue to use that roadway without any change to their patterns or their behaviors,” Douglas said. The recommendation is based on a KDOT report stating that creating new lanes without imposing a toll would cost an additional $85 million to fund. According to the report, the recommended approach has the benefit of a smaller carbon footprint, as well as lower maintenance costs. The cost of using express lanes would fluctuate depending on time of day and distance traveled in the express lane. For a partial corridor trip in the morning, Douglas estimates the toll would reach somewhere near 50 cents; a full-corridor trip in the morning would be closer to $1.50, and the same trip in the afternoon would likely reach $1.75, according to Douglas.
Source: KCUR News
