We have no money. If we can't even build a bridge to replace one about to fall over why would we build a very expensive flyover? The airport access road can't really be removed. How will people drive to buildings at the airport?NorthOak wrote:No, it's literally not impossible.ldai_phs wrote:1. Doubling the lanes is literally impossible.
1) Look at a satellite image after the bridge. 2 more lanes can be added by encroaching into the Airport.
R. Gebaur Rd, the frontage to Wheeler has virtually NO traffic on it at all.
A flyover would be required between Armour and the Water facility, that would be costly but still doable.
It wouldn't be easy, but there is certainly room to do it.
After the flyover there's enough room to add as many lanes as desired to I-29.
Other cities build these flyovers, they are a necessity.
MODOT and KC always take the cheapest possible road.
Southwest Trafficway/ I-35 southwest out of the loop is a perfect example.
That should have been an elevated highway at least until the fork.
Instead MODOT kept the old (grounded) roadway and merely added lanes and ramps, cutting off the West Side from downtown.
If it can be done cheaper and less safe - MODOT will find a way.
No one has bridge envy - unless it's you.
The bridge assessment of other cities shows how pathetic MODOT and KC have been to transitioning the river.
And while better public transit is needed, your mantra of "less highways" is partial insanity.
You simply don't live in the real world.
I'm not saying we should remove all our highways, I'm saying that looking to expand every road into downtown now for the demand that may occur is 2047 is dumb and a waste of money. The current 69 is 4 lanes wide. The problem is not the lack of capacity but the bottleneck created by the sharpish turn of the bridge and the lights once you cross over to "Downtown". Fixing this by building a new bridge would help improve traffic flow immensely.
Let alone the people of the Northland don't want it to turn into a "Johnson County" of massive highways.