Ribbon-cutting ceremonies for the Buck O’Neil Bridge will be held Monday morning, but don’t expect to start using the new bridges over the Missouri River in Kansas City for a few more weeks.
The ceremony will be held at 10 a.m. on the south side of the project near the intersection of Fifth Street and Broadway in the northwest corner of downtown Kansas City. It is open to the public, and the ceremony site will open at 9:30 a.m.
The Missouri Department of Transportation’s Kansas City District announced in a news release that the bridge will officially open to traffic later in October.
Guest speakers at the ceremonial opening include Missouri Gov. Mike Parsons, Highways and Transportation Commission Vice Chair Warren Erdman, U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, Mayor Quinton Lucas, interim-MoDOT Director Ed Hassinger, and Negro Leagues Baseball Museum President Bob Kendrick.
Two separate modern highway bridges replaced the former iconic triple arch, steel-truss bridge that opened in 1956 as a toll bridge run by the city. The bridge, which cost $12 million to build, generated nearly $40 million. When tolls ended in 1991, it cost 25 cents a car to cross.
The city transferred ownership of the bridge to MoDOT in 1992. Once known as the Broadway Bridge, it was renamed in 2016 to honor popular sports legend Buck O’Neil.
The bridge was nearing the end of its projected service life and needed to be replaced. It carried U.S. 169 highway over the Missouri River and was a critical regional connection between downtown Kansas City and the Northland.
Earlier this year, northbound traffic on U.S. 169 was shifted to one of the newly built river bridges. For the time being, the new southbound bridge carries northbound traffic over the river. Southbound U.S. 169 has been closed at the Wheeler Downtown Airport, and traffic has been detoured via Interstate 29/35 over the Bond Bridge on the northeast corner of downtown.
Crews brought down the arches earlier this year using three separate blasts, the last one in June.
Construction on the $220 million project to replace the bridge began in July 2021. The new bridges are expected to last for more than 100 years and be less costly to maintain.
The new bridges will provide direct connections from Interstate 35 to U.S. 169, dedicated lanes to downtown Kansas City and a new bike/pedestrian lane. Crews also improved access to the Wheeler Downtown Airport and provided a scenic overlook with benches and murals.
“The completion of this project will benefit motorists driving through the region as well as commuters and others driving on the city streets,” James Pflum, MoDOT project director, said in a news release. “With the realignment of the bridge to allow a direct connection of U.S. Highway 169 and I-35, we also expect to experience shorter drive times.”
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