KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The KC Scout Traffic Management Center will activate new colored digital message boards starting Monday.
Unlike the current message boards, which display messages in orange-colored text, the new boards will use full color to depict interstate and highway icons.
“Thanks to new advancements in technology, these higher definition and more energy efficient message boards are available at the same cost as the original sign boards that were installed 20 years ago,” said KC Scout’s Transportation Project Manager Mark Sommerhauser in a release. “After years of 24/7 usage, the existing signs were overheating once the air temperature neared 90 degrees. These dynamic message sign board failures were unacceptable since motorists depend on these boards to accurately warn them of incidents ahead on the freeway."
Drivers will see the new, colored-icon boards at the following locations:
- Westbound Interstate 70 near U.S. 40 and Blue Ridge Boulevard, Blue Ridge Cutoff, and Jackson Avenue
- Eastbound I-70 near Brooklyn Avenue, Manchester Trafficway, and Lee’s Summit Road
- Westbound Interstate 435 near Holmes Road
- Eastbound I-435 near Interstate 470 and Interstate 49
- Southbound I-435 near I-70
- Southbound MO Route 291 near 39th Street
