The Missouri "Triangle" is 40 years old and carries more than 250,000 vehicles per day through Kansas Citys crowded southeastern corridor. Three major arterial highways converge there, Interstate 435, I-470 and Highway 71, carving in the landscape a three-sided interchange with 64 unique movements. The once-tangled bottleneck serves as a signification focal point for the citys downtown businesses, suburban commuters and heavy-freight carriers.
"Besides those three major highways all coming together at the same point, you have seven other local interchanges all within a couple of miles," says Steve Hamadi, MoDOT project manager. The 540-acre project covers 70 lane-miles of new pavement, including replacing 26 bridges and building 17 new structures with 1-million sq ft of total bridge deck. The brides will sit atop 293 new columns rising between 20 ft and 125 ft tall.