OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — The Kansas Department of Transportation recommends installing 14 walls to block noise from traffic along U.S. 69 as the department works to expand the highway from four lanes to six in Overland Park.
Eleven of the 14 walls would be built in phase one of the project, which runs along the highway from roughly 103rd Street to 151st Street. That phase should begin in 2022 and end in 2025. The remaining three walls would be built in a later phase.
During a virtual meeting last week, KDOT said the walls should reduce noise for people living on the other side by seven decibels. A KDOT analysis said any noise reduction by at least five decibels is clearly noticeable and a reduction by 10 decibels is perceived as lowering the noise by half.
Throughout the month of January, KDOT will host informational meetings with individual neighborhoods in areas it recommends installing a noise wall. In the same month, both renters and owners in those areas will receive ballots in the mail to vote on whether they want KDOT to install the walls. The state needs 70 percent of the votes to be in favor in order to build the wall.
“Noise walls end up kind of blending in with the highway and it's not a super noticeable aesthetic difference, but for those folks on the other side, to be able to block part of that noise is going to be very important for them,” explained Lindsey Douglas, KDOT’s deputy secretary of economic investment, policy and fiscal affairs who is leading the expansion project.
Building all the recommended walls will cost an additional $30 million. Douglas said that money would come from the state highway fund, not from money collected in the express toll lanes, which will be added to the highway to partly fund the widening project.
Here’s where KDOT recommends noise walls on the east side of U.S. 69:
- From Indian Valley Park south to 119th Street.
- From 119th Street to Blue Valley Parkway.
- From Blue Valley Parkway to 127th Street.
- From 132nd Street to 135th Street.
- From 135th Street to the Blue Valley Recreation Center.
- From 143rd Street to 151st Street.
- From 151st Street to 159th Street.
Here’s where KDOT recommends noise walls on the west side of US69:
- From 119th Street south to Antioch Road.
- From 127th Street to 132nd Street.
- From 135th Street to 151st Street.
- From 151st Street to 159th Street.
- From Advent Hospital to 169th Street.
