Improve I-70 Kansas City

TREKK led the consultant team serving as MoDOT’s Owner’s Engineer to deliver the $237 million Improve I-70 Kansas City design-build project through Kansas City’s urban core. The project corridor, an aging 5 mile stretch between The Paseo Boulevard and U.S. 40/31^st Street, includes 10 interchanges and 25 bridges, serving 100,000 vehicles daily. The project’s goals focus on improving safety, reliability and accessibility while reducing congestion through the corridor, which is a primary gateway to downtown Kansas City.

As Owner’s Engineer, TREKK provided holistic services, including assistance from every TREKK service line. TREKK’s field and design teams collaborated to prepare and deliver this complex design-build project, providing survey, CCTV investigations, sanitary sewer assessments, transportation design and analysis, utility design and oversight, stakeholder coordination, risk management, and procurement support.

The project included robust public outreach efforts as part of the NEPA Environmental Impact Study re-evaluation process. A FHWA-approved conceptual Access Justification Report update was completed to reflect changes in existing and forecasted conditions, including a predictive safety analysis.

TREKK’s design efforts involved modifying the previously preferred alternative based on the identified operational, safety and geometric deficiencies. We developed right of way plans to help expedite the acquisition process and minimize risks for the design build team. Our structural team analyzed the corridor’s existing and proposed bridge locations, including two pedestrian bridges to improve pedestrian and bicycle connectivity.

As one of the first constructed sections of the interstate system bid, the existing corridor does not meet many of today’s minimum design standards. Therefore, innovative transportation solutions to improve safety is an important goal of the design-build project. To better understand the historic safety trends, TREKK integrated the existing geometric design, roadside conditions and historic crash data into a GIS dashboard for the roadway corridor and connected local road network. This tool allowed a layered spatial review of the crashes and deficient geometries to develop trends, causality and design scenarios.

Field investigations of the existing combined sewer system, including the use of our TREKK360 technology, not only allowed for mapping of unknown infrastructure, but also helped proactively identify anticipated impacts along the corridor. The data was then presented in an easy-to-use GIS platform, including videos of pipes and manholes.

In addition to the City’s complicated combined sewer system, TREKK coordinated with numerous other utility providers within the corridor. The utility team verified utility locations, updated plans to accurately show their locations, identified and worked through conflicts, and assisted with relocations. The utility locations were provided as SUE Quality Level A through D, depending on the significance of the facility.

TREKK’s survey team acquired aerial photogrammetry and terrestrial mobile LiDAR data, which was supplemented with conventional topographic survey methods. We also developed the land acquisition documents to acquire the necessary right of way and easements for the design-build team’s proposed improvements.

After selection of the design build team, TREKK continues to support MoDOT by reviewing design submittals and offering guidance to the design-build team. TREKK’s construction inspection team is also assisting MoDOT with quality assurance efforts during construction.