Jake Campbell has spent eight years in his Olathe home, and lately his backyard has looked more like a construction zone than a place to relax. A federal grant has accelerated the long-debated K-10 and Lone Elm Road interchange project, and Campbell, who has opposed the plan for years, is now watching trees disappear and preparing to give up part of his property to make way for it.
The City of Lenexa received a $16 million federal BUILD grant that is funding the interchange and speeding up its timeline, according to KSHB 41. The interchange is part of a larger effort to improve the K-10 corridor across Johnson County, and it sits at the border between Lenexa and Olathe, two cities that have taken differing positions on the project. Campbell told the station he has raised concerns about increased traffic, noise and the loss of part of his property, adding that the project will have a significant impact on his family. “All the trees will be gone,” he said, describing what construction has already done to the land around his house.
Despite his years of opposition, Campbell said he appreciates that Olathe is now planning a truck route to address the traffic concerns that have long worried him and his neighbors. He said he wants his voice and those of his neighbors to continue being heard as work moves forward, and he will receive compensation for the property he is losing. A separate Missouri Department of Transportation document concerns an I-70 section.
A Years-Long Fight Meets a Federal Deadline
The tension between the two cities is not new. In late 2024, Olathe city staff and councilmembers raised concerns about the proposed interchange, citing fears that heavy truck traffic would cut through school zones and residential streets, according to the Johnson County Post. The proposed interchange has raised concerns about nearby school zones, the outlet reported at the time.
Olathe officials are planning a bypass route to address concerns about freight traffic near local schools, per the same Johnson County Post report. Olathe plans to build a truck route specifically to address those traffic concerns. A separate Missouri Department of Transportation document concerns an I-70 section.
Lenexa Mayor Julie Sayers said the interchange will create a better route for roughly 1,000 students traveling to Olathe schools each day, framing the project as both a safety and growth measure. She said the interchange will accommodate growth to the west of Lenexa and improve safety overall, according to KSHB 41. Sayers also pointed to existing congestion on Prairie Star Parkway, K-10, College Boulevard, K-7, Woodland Drive and Ridgeview Road as evidence the corridor needs relief.
Growth Pressure From Chiefs and New Industry
Sayers said interest in the area is expected to grow because the Kansas City Chiefs are coming to the region, a reference to the team's selection of engineering firm Burns & McDonnell in July to oversee planning for a $300 million headquarters and practice facility on 155 acres in Olathe, as Hoodline previously reported. Heavy industrial development is also piling onto Lone Elm Road itself, including a planned 1.4 million-square-foot manufacturing facility from Faith Technologies near 167th Street in Olathe, announced last month and detailed in Hoodline's earlier coverage of the industrial land push.
The interchange itself is one piece of KDOT's much larger $1.235 billion K-10 Corridor Capacity Improvements Project, according to the Kansas Department of Transportation. The project covers a corridor used by commuters and freight traffic.
Before federal money could flow, the project had to clear regulatory hurdles.
What Lenexa Has Committed So Far
The overall construction cost for the interchange is estimated at roughly $43 million, with the $16 million federal grant covering just over a third of that total, according to the Johnson County Post's reporting on the grant award. Lenexa's FY 2026–2030 plans include major projects, according to the City of Lenexa.
Lenexa has not yet provided a construction timeline for the interchange, according to KSHB 41's reporting. For Campbell and his neighbors on the Olathe side of the highway, that leaves an uncertain stretch ahead as bulldozers keep clearing the trees behind their homes and city officials continue working out how to route the trucks that are expected to follow.
