The City of Lee’s Summit, Missouri, and its project partners celebrated the official opening of a new $16 million interchange at U.S. 50 and Route 291 South with a ceremonial ribbon-cutting on May 11.
The project reconstructed the 40-year-old Route 291 overpass into a diverging diamond design, added a roundabout at Blue Parkway and Jefferson Street and realigned Oldham Parkway.
In addition to improving traffic flow and improving public safety, the new interchange is expected to increase economic growth and expansion south of U.S. 50. A decade ago, a group of Lee’s Summit Economic Development Council investors formed the Gateway Business Alliance to advocate for public funding of transportation infrastructure projects such as the 50/291 interchange.
The $16 million interchange was funded through a three-part cost-sharing agreement, with the City of Lee’s Summit paying $8 million; $6.8 million secured by the City of Lee’s Summit through the Mid-America Regional Council Surface Transportation Program funding process; and the Missouri Department of Transportation paying the remaining $1.2 million.
Radmacher Brothers Construction based in Pleasant Hill, Missouri, provided general construction services for the interchange project, and GBA of Lenexa, Kansas, provided engineering and design services.
