ShawneeDispatch.com

On Friday, dignitaries will officially cut the ribbon signaling the end of the long-running and — for many retailers and drivers — laborious Kansas Highway 7 interchange project.

The former K-7 and Johnson Drive intersection, which forced much fast-moving highway traffic to stop at a traffic light, is now an interchange with on- and off-ramps and merging lanes. Johnson Drive/55th Street runs beneath K-7, and traffic glides through three new roundabouts — two enable drivers to turn into neighboring shopping centers, with the large center roundabout guiding drivers onto K-7.

“It greatly improves safety,” said Kansas Department of Transportation spokeswoman Kim Qualls, who noted there are business benefits, too. “For the surrounding area, it provides greatly enhanced economic development activities, as traffic has easier access.”

The ribbon-cutting ceremony is planned for noon Friday in the parking lot of Security Bank of Kansas City, 5450 Roberts St. In case of rain, the event will take place inside the bank, on the second floor.

Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback is expected to speak at Friday’s event.

Other scheduled speakers are U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts, U.S. Rep. Kevin Yoder, Kansas Secretary of Transportation Deb Miller, Kansas Secretary of Revenue Nick Jordan and Shawnee Mayor Jeff Meyers.

Discussions about the future of the interchange have been ongoing more than eight years — at least one study was under way in 2003 — and construction and detours plagued drivers and businesses for more than a year and a half, since crews broke ground on the $21.4 million project in spring of 2010.

Construction is still under way on two side-projects south of Johnson Drive/55th Street. Qualls said both projects are anticipated to be completed this winter.

One will create a side-road overpass at Clear Creek Parkway, according to an announcement from KDOT. The other will complete Hedge Lane Terrace from 55th Street south to Clear Creek Parkway.

Qualls said the project in Shawnee was one of many highlighted in KDOT’s K-7 corridor study, which aims to transform the route into a freeway and major transportation corridor from the Leavenworth to Miami county lines.

“This is one small — but major — step toward that overall future corridor vision,” Qualls said.

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