By Kansan Staff

KDOT is proposing a new U.S. 50 interchange – removing the interchange currently at Meridian Road and building new at Cow Palace Road.

KDOT has posted a portal to submit questions and comments at https://tinyurl.com/5n84cern. The portal will be open through May 17.

The plans unveiled on the KDOT website April 2 and the public meeting later that day are very preliminary.

According to KDOT, replacement of the existing bridge over the BNSF rail yard is needed because the structure “is nearing the end of its useful design life.”

It is there that the project started. The preliminary plans shown May 2 showed replacement of that bridge with a pair of two-lane bridges.

KDOT is considering moving the interchange to the west – off of Meridian and onto Cow Palace Road — would satisfy federal requirements for acceleration lanes on a four lane, 65 mile per hour road.

It also would get the interchange away from the BNSF rail yard which limits the about of space available for an interchange.

Depending on connecting street options for a Cow Palace, cost of the project could be as high as $74.9 million. KDOT is the primary funder of the project.

Project information is available online on the at ike.ksdot.gov/us50-meridian-interchange-newton

The full pdf by KDOT is below.