It may be weeks before engineers know how to fix the highway ramp where a car sank in concrete when it ran into a construction zone last week.
The Kansas Department of Transportation is investigating what repairs need to be made at the ramp from northbound U.S. 69 to 87th Street on the Lenexa-Overland Park border.
A department spokeswoman said today it could take from a few days to two weeks to determine how the ramp can be repaired. Closed since last August, the ramp was supposed to reopen by Dec. 15. Highway officials have said it’s not clear when the ramp will reopen now.
Maybe as many as 10 vehicles last Friday tried to exit from northbound U.S. 69 through 12 inches of freshly poured concrete and a car became stuck, authorities said. The incident occurred at about 7 p.m. Friday.
Upon arriving at the scene, KDOT crews found car and a sport utility vehicle had driven around the traffic barricades onto the newly poured ramp. The car made it up the ramp and the SUV became stuck trying to back up on the ramp.
Tire ruts from the vehicles were visible in the concrete, highway officials said. Newly poured concrete on roadways typically must cure for at least a week before they can open to traffic.
Police said interviews indicate that drivers had seen one car exit on the ramp and followed behind presuming the ramp was open. The case is still under investigation and, so far, no tickets have been issued.
The cost for repairing the ramp will be determined once the investigation is completed. Who pays for the repairs is yet to be determined.
The ramp is part of the $82 million project to widen U.S. 69 to three lanes in each direction from I-35 to I-435. It’s funded mostly with federal stimulus approved by Congress last year.