From Kentucky Ave. to Marshall Road
Thanks to a financial partnership between the City of Platte City and the Missouri Department of Transportation, a section of Hwy. 92 in Platte City that has resembled a mine field of potholes will soon get a milling and overlay.
As reported in The Landmark last week, the section of Hwy. 92 from Kentucky Avenue to Marshall Road has been plagued by numerous potholes, which city officials blame on the fact the section has a thinner micro-surface treatment on top of a concrete road base.
Under normal circumstances, the highway is a state-maintained road and city funds would not be used. But in order to get a more permanent solution rather than continued patching of potholes, city officials have offered to split the cost for the planned repair 50/50 with MoDOT. This method will move repairs up to this year–in fact the project is now planned for sometime this summer (anytime between June 10 and Aug. 10) rather than waiting until the state’s scheduled plan of the year 2026.
“The city will run the project on a state highway, which is very unusual,” DJ Gehrt, city administrator, told The Landmark on Tuesday.
The estimated cost is from $500,000 to $650,000, city officials indicate, with the city and state splitting it on a 50/50 cost share. The city will initially fund the total cost and then repayment from MoDOT for its share is expected by the end of the year.
“The city has received multiple complaints in the last few months regarding the pavement condition of the segment of Hwy. 92 between Kentucky Ave. and Marshall Road,” Gehrt said. He said more than 8,600 vehicles travel through this area each day.
“It provides access to the heavily populated business corridor of the city and receives the highest volume of daily traffic in Platte City,” Gehrt said.
This segment of Hwy 92 was resurfaced in 2017 as a part of the MoDOT resurfacing project from Platte City to Smithville. The majority of the highway received a full mill and overlay with that project, except the segment from Kentucky Ave. to Marshall Road which received a micro-surface treatment due to the underlying concrete base.
“Although micro-surface treatments are an excellent application for many roadways, it has not proved effective on this segment,” Gehrt said.
The area began showing signs of problems as early as 2018 and has continued to deteriorate each year.
Gehrt says while MoDOT has been diligent in repairing potholes, “this reactive approach is a losing battle now that the patching of this road segment is almost equal to the original surface area.”
“The patched areas now require work after nearly every rain or snow event,” he segment.
City officials discussed their concerns with MoDOT. The state’s pavement engineer indicated that the next planned resurfacing of this segment of the highway is not until 2026.
“It is not acceptable for the surface of a primary route through the center of a city to remain in the current poor condition for the next five years,” Gehrt remarked.
“While the city believes this problem is MoDOT’s responsibility, offering to share the repair cost is likely to yield a more expedient resolution to the current situation,” the city administrator added.
The project will include about 6,000 linear feet of roadway requiring about 4,700 tons of asphalt with a depth of 1.75 inches.
Waiting till summer to perform the work will allow contractors to get their work performed without the added school traffic of cars and buses, as much of the section of roadway is in front of the Platte County R-3 School District campus.
At a meeting Monday night, the city’s public works subcommittee approved advancing the highway project onto the full board of aldermen, whose approval is scheduled to happen later this month.
EXIT 18 PROJECT SET
MoDOT will soon begin initial work on the long-awaited realignment of Exit 18 at I-29 and Hwy. 92 in Platte City.
The project work will begin on Monday, April 12 and has an estimated completion date of Nov. 1.
The project was awarded to Clarkson Construction. MoDOT will share the traffic management schedule with the city. All traffic management schedules are to be submitted two weeks in advance of traffic/lane closures, city officials say.