The reopening of the Lewis and Clark Viaduct on I-70 was celebrated on Monday morning by Gov. Laura Kelly, U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, D-3rd Dist., and Mayor David Alvey. The bridge reopened Jan. 23.
“This has been a long journey to get this completed,” Mayor Alvey said in remarks at the event held at Kaw Point Park in Kansas City, Kansas.
They’ve known for more than a decade that significant work was needed on the viaduct, he said.
Work was underway when it was interrupted by significant flooding in the spring of 2019 along the Kansas and Missouri rivers, Alvey said. When the waters subsided they were able to get the work done.
Mayor Alvey, along with Gov. Kelly and Rep. Davids, mentioned the importance of maintaining infrastructure for future generations.
“We have a responsibility to the next generation of Wyandotte Countians and Kansans to take a hard look at our infrastructure needs and say we are dedicated to providing the necessary resources to invest in our future generations,” Mayor Alvey said.
“This is what good government looks like, when you get all levels of government, local, state and federal, coming together,” Gov. Kelly said. “This is what it’s supposed to be.”
The $65 million viaduct reconstruction project has been more than 10 years in the making and is one that is desperately needed, she said.
The 59-year-old viaduct had deteriorated significantly, she said. It cost more than $ 1 million dollars a year in maintenance, which was not sustainable, she said.
After a study was completed in 2012, engineering work on the project began shortly thereafter. The project was over a half-mile long, with 19 concrete piers restored or replaced, she said. Construction work on the project began in 2018 and originally was scheduled to be completed in two years, but the 2019 flood halted the project, she said.
It was a bit ironic that restoration was delayed by flooding, since this was the only bridge that remained open to traffic during the 1993 floods, she said.
More than 40,000 travel the viaduct, which connects Missouri and Kansas, each day to get to work, to deliver work materials, to get to school or to get to activities, according to the governor.
Rep. Davids, who serves on the House infrastructure committee, said the project will help keep people safe and keep the community connected.
It also is a way to help the economy continue to come back from the pandemic, she said.
Infrastructure bridges the past, present and future, said Julie Lorenz, Kansas secretary of transportation.
This improvement makes it safer to travel for the present and paves the way for future opportunity, she said.
The American Bridge Co. and Burns and McDonnell worked on the project.
To view the event, visit https://www.facebook.com/KSDOTHQ/videos/778059159490958.