Tolling Gaining Traction for Highway Projects in Kansas

Options for investments along a 17.5-mile stretch of State Highway 10 where it runs through Johnson County, Kansas could include tolling.

Kaylie McLaughlin reports that consultants from HNTB are currently working on a corridor study for the state of Kansas—only the most recent study in a series of studies over the years, according to the article.

“Now, as traffic continues to increase and growth in the western part of the county booms, state and local leaders are looking at K-10 again, particularly the area between Cedar Creek Parkway in Olathe and where K-10 ends at I-435 in Lenexa,” writes McLaughlin. Poor repair and safety issues are also cited as a need for the investments along the corridor.

But tolls are the headlining topic of discussion in the study. “One solution discussed at length was the potential to add an express toll lane on K-10 through Johnson County, likely mostly in Lenexa, where traffic picks up closer to I-435,” reports McLaughlin.

According to McLaughlin, tolling is a relatively novel approach for the state of Kansas, but the state recently began work on express toll lanes along U.S. Highway 69 in Overland Park.