FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Feb. 15, 2006

Wyandotte Street Bridge demolition this weekend

Portion of Wyandotte Street to close; two downtown streets reopen

To serve citizens and provide better downtown traffic flow, two Kansas City streets will be reopened to compensate for impediments caused by the demolition of the Wyandotte Street Bridge.

As construction crews prepare for this weekend’s demolition of the Wyandotte Street Bridge, Wyandotte Street from 14th Street to 16th Street will be closed starting Thursday, Feb. 16 at 9 a.m. This street closure will remain in effect until April 2007 to allow for construction of the new bridge and the Kansas City Convention Center ballroom expansion.

To handle Wyandotte Street’s displaced traffic, the following streets will reopen:

Baltimore Avenue between Truman Road and 13th Street will reopen to two-way traffic Thursday at 9 a.m. This is the first street within the Power and Light District to reopen since construction began in 2004.

Central Avenue north of the Central Avenue Bridge and the eastbound Interstate 670 off ramp to Central Avenue will reopen on Friday, Feb. 17 at 9 a.m.

The Wyandotte Bridge demolition also will necessitate these additional weekend road closures:

Eastbound Truman Road between Broadway Street and Baltimore Avenue will be closed from Friday, Feb. 17 at 9 a.m. until Monday, Feb. 20 at 5 a.m. Officials from the City of Kansas City, Mo., Public Works Department suggest that motorists use 16th Street during the closure.

Eastbound and westbound lanes of I-670 will be closed from Friday, Feb. 17 at 7 p.m. until Monday, Feb. 20 at 5 a.m. The Missouri Department of Transportation will route traffic to the north portion of the downtown loop on Interstate 70 during the closure.

An electronic map outlining downtown’s street closures is available at the Capital Improvements Management Office’s Web site (www.kcmo.org/cimo). This page lists all current information and information for the following two months. This information is updated twice a month or as major street closures occur downtown.