The Nall/Roe Avenue Interchange, built specifically to keep Sprint office jobs in the Kansas City area, provides east-west access from Interstate 435 to Nall Avenue, which previously bridged Interstate 435, and reconfigures the interchange with Roe Avenue. The project also included widening I-435 from 6 lanes to 8 lanes to accommodate traffic growth.

Measure	Pre project	Post project	Change	% Change
Personal Income Per Capita	36,317	46,673	10,356	0.29%
Economic Distress	0.48	0.69	0.22	0.45%
Number of Jobs	48,492	94,221	45,729	0.94%
Business Sales (in $M's)	3,415	3,779	364	0.11%
Tax Revenue (in $M's)	34	43	9	0.26%
Population	111,790	149,080	37,290	0.33%
Property Value (median house value)	184,665	223,869	39,204	0.21%
Density (ppl/sq mi)	1,712	2,627	915	0.53%

Measure	Pre project	Post project	Change	% Change
Personal Income Per Capita	49,350	57,186	7,836	0.16%
Economic Distress	0.52	0.52	0.00	0.00%
Number of Jobs	274,354	353,607	79,253	0.29%
Business Sales (in $M's)	6,707	8,408	1,701	0.25%
Tax Revenue (in $M's)	533	621	88	0.17%
Population	395,003	443,434	48,431	0.12%
Property Value (median house value)	181,901	216,327	34,426	0.19%
Density (ppl/sq mi)	828.48	930.06	101.58	0.12%

Measure	Pre project	Post project	Change	% Change
Personal Income Per Capita	32,994	36,629	3,635	0.11%
Economic Distress	0.80	0.84	0.04	0.05%
Number of Jobs	1,560,610	1,752,410	191,800	0.12%
Business Sales (in $M's)	35,414	39,909	4,495	0.13%
Tax Revenue (in $M's)	3,610	4,325	715	0.20%
Population	2,580,510	2,678,340	97,830	0.04%
Property Value (median house value)	0	116,758	0	N/A
Density (ppl/sq mi)	31.54	32.74	1.20	0.04%

Measure	Direct	Indirect	Total
Jobs	14,000.00	9,520.00	23,520.00
Income (in $M's)	766.67	521.34	1,288.01
Output (in $M's)	2,323.33	1,579.86	3,903.19

I-435 & Nall/Roe Ave. Interchange

1.0 Synopsis

In the mid 1990's, Sprint planned to consolidate several Kansas City area offices and move their operations to another state. To retain Sprint, the state committed to build a $48 million interchange in Overland Park, a community in the southwestern Kansas City suburbs, if the company would locate its operations at an existing business park. With a projected 14,000 employees planned to work at the Sprint facility, additional roadway capacity was needed to accommodate increased traffic volumes. Total job growth in the vicinity of the Nall Avenue interchange has now reached over 17,500 jobs, including the Overland Park convention center and several medical offices. Development also is occurring on the North side of I-435, due to the increased access provided by the new interchange.

2.0 Background

2.1 Location & Transportation Connections

Overland Park is located at the southeast intersection of I-435 and Highway 69. The constructed interchange is located where Nall Ave (runs north/south) intersects I-434 (runs east/west). The interchange is located within Overland Park, roughly 16 miles southwest of downtown Kansas City. I-435 is Kansas City's outer suburban beltway, surrounding the city at a radius of about 10 to 15 miles from the city center. I-435 provides direct access to the Kansas City International Airport from Overland Park.

Airports near Overland Park include Charles B. Wheeler airport (14 miles in downtown Kansas City), Kansas City International (24 miles Northwest), and Rosecrans Memorial (59 miles North in St. Joseph, MO). The nearest train station is located in downtown Kansas City (Amtrak). Amtrak passenger service connects Kansas City with St. Louis.

2.2 Community Character & Project Context

Overland Park in Johnson County, Kansas is the second largest city in Kansas. With a 2000 population of 149,080, the city has grown at an average rate of 9% per year since 1990. It is an affluent commuter area that ranked 9th in CNN/Money Magazine's "100 Best Cities to Live in the United States." Overland Park is the metro areas' prime suburban corporate campus location, considered equal in status to downtown Kansas City. Known for high-tech, engineering, and retail business sectors, it is one of the metropolitan area's largest employment centers. In 1999, residential property values averaged $160,101 compared to the U.S. average of $83,500 for the same year. Over 26 million square feet of office space (half of the total metropolitan area stock) is located in Overland Park. The city offers one of the lowest property taxes in the Kansas City area (because budgets are financed through sales tax) and is generous with tax abatements to local businesses.

3.0 Project Description & Motives

According to the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT), the total project cost for the interchange and roadway improvements was $48.4 million. Sprint paid about $4.5 million for road improvements around its headquarters campus, such as additional turning lanes at major intersections.

4.0 Project Impacts

4.1 Transportation Impacts

4.2 Demographic, Economic & Land Use Impacts

In part because of the state-funded interchange at I-435 and Nall Avenue, Sprint decided to consolidate several of its offices into a 200-acre headquarters in Overland Park. The headquarters, which houses 14,000 employees, cost an estimated $300 million, and includes 3.9 million square feet of office space spread across 22 low rise buildings.

Additional developments, including a convention center, hotel, and medical offices, have located in the vicinity of the interchange, at least in part due to the access it provides. A 2008 consultant study estimated that 17,525 jobs have been attracted to the area around the interchange from 1998 to 2006. This equates to a 9.6% growth rate, which is significantly higher than the Overland Park I-435/US 69 interchange area (-.8% jobs) or the state of Kansas (1%.) The consultant report also estimated the annual value added from business growth around the interchanges to be $4.1billion, and the added annual personal income to be $1.8 billion.

Sprint's high paying and stable jobs provide a customer base for businesses in the area. According to a study by Johnson County's County Economic Research Institute, each Sprint job generates an additional 2.45 jobs in the surrounding community.

The Overland Park Convention Center markets the ease of exit and entry to the highway to attract customers to the convention center and hotel. A spokesperson for the convention center (237,000 sq ft) stated that the Nall Ave and Metcalf Interchanges are very important to guests and visitors, and helped attract the facility to the area. Ease of access was also a reason for the development of the Sheraton Hotel, which is attached to the convention center and has 412 rooms. Mercy Hospital South predates the interchange but the hospital recently expanded their urgent care center and increased their bed count by 35. The south side of the interchange is now built out, and development is beginning to move to the north side of the Interstate 435 beltway.

5.0 Non-Transportation Factors

Overland Park has attracted corporate headquarters for many years. It offers a well-educated work force and very good public schools, both of which attract corporations to the area. The community also offers tax incentives to businesses willing to locate in Overland Park. Although the interchange facilitated the location of the Sprint Headquarters to Overland Park, the incentives, amenities, and character of community also influenced business location decisions and associated economic impacts.

6.0 Resources

6.1 Citations

Transportation Infrastructure Investment and the Kansas Economy. High Street Consulting. Prepared for KDOT. Nov. 2008
http://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/stories/2002/04/01/daily38.html

6.2 Interviews

Organizations

Children’s Mercy Hospital (South)

City of Overland Park

Mid-America Regional Council

Overland Park Chamber of Commerce

Overland Park Convention Center

Footnotes

Case Study Developed by Economic Development Research Group, Inc.

Project: I-435 & Nall/Roe Ave. Interchange

Summary:

Characteristics and Setting:

Geography

Timing

Costs

Pre/Post Conditions:

Select a region to display the conditions for that region:

Local

County(ies)

State

County Impacts

Case Location:

Narrative: