Shawnee Mission Parkway over Metcalf

Kansas City, Kansas

Two new bridges and new interchange punctuate a 1.5-mile segment of US-56 (Shawnee Mission Parkway) on the Kansas City metropolitan area's west side. The new bridges carry vehicles on this major east-west arterial, which connects I-35 and locations west with the Country Club Plaza shopping district in Kansas City, Missouri.

According to GBA Principal and Project Manager Tim Ross, P.E., the existing bridges and associated interchanges were narrow and showed signs of old age. In fact, the 4-lane bridge and cloverleaf interchange at US-69 were built in1946. They were no longer adequate to carry the heavy volume of traffic along the route.

The Kansas Department of Transportation selected GBA to provide engineering design for the bridge and interchange improvements, including development of construction sequencing and traffic control plans. GBA also provided surveying services, and landscape architectural design at the interchange with Metcalf.

Catherine Patrick, P.E., a KDOT construction engineer responsible for contract administration on both projects, explained that construction was complicated by the fact that the new bridges were built on the existing alignment. “To do the construction, we had to demolish the existing bridges and put new bridges in the same place,” Patrick said. “These are fully developed areas, and we were working within the existing right-of-way with numerous utilities, retaining structures, and tight construction constraints.”

As a consequence, keeping traffic flowing during construction was one of the greatest challenges of the projects. To accomplish this, demolition of the existing bridges and construction of the new bridges were completed in phases to maintain one lane of traffic in each direction.

Both of the new bridges at Metcalf carry three lanes of traffic, two lanes for through traffic and one lane for acceleration and deceleration. The structures, which are identical 4-span steel beam construction, measure approximately 200 ft long and 44 ft wide.

The project improved vertical clearance below by utilizing rolled steel beam construction and involved raising the grade of the roadways. Ramps were also improved and a landscape plan was implemented at Metcalf, which saved exceptional trees.

Return to Highways & Interchanges