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OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — The Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) will soon add a new element to the U.S. 69 Expansion Project.

KDOT will construct 11 noise walls along U.S. 69 Highway between 119th Street and 151st Street.

Location for 11 noise walls along US 69 Corridor

The proposed walls were identified through a noise study completed last fall.

In January KDOT sent out 1,450 ballots to property owners along the corridor to vote on the construction of individual walls being recommended. Of those 352 ballots were returned and the votes were counted on a point system. According to KDOT  ballots were weighted to reflect single family homes counting as two points. Single family homes occupied by a renter were also worth two points with the property owner being sent a ballot and the current tenant being sent a ballot. 

In apartment complexes and other multi-family complexes ballots were sent to each tenant and the property owner. Each tenant ballot was counted as a single point and the ballot sent to the owner was worth the same number of points as there were units in the complex. 

According to KDOT, each noise wall proposed required a 70% approval from residents along the corridor before it could be added to the project.

Based on the number of returned ballots officials say 1,070 points were tallied for the project, 961 points were weighed in favor of the project and 108 points were weighed against the project. One ballot was returned twice and ruled invalid. The responses showed a 90% approval rate for the construction of the walls.

The additional noise walls will add roughly $30 million to the overall cost of the project. 

Construction on the toll lane project is expected to begin later this year with the new toll lanes open for use by 2025.