KSHB 41 anchor/reporter Daniela Leon covers transportation-related issues in Kansas City. Share your story idea with Daniela.

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The first express toll lanes in Kansas are seeing slow but steady growth as most drivers along U.S. 69 continue to use the free lanes.

As part of our effort to capture a range of commuter perspectives, we spoke with drivers who regularly travel the corridor. Opinions were split.

First-of-its-kind 69Express lanes see rising but limited use

Amanda says the 69Express lanes have made a noticeable difference in her commute.

“I use it every day when I go to work, especially if there’s traffic. It really helps when I’m in a rush,” she said.

But others, like Andrew, avoid the express toll lanes altogether.

“I moved here from a small town, so this construction was new to me. I’m glad it’s over,” Andrew said. “I never take the express lanes. I don’t think there’s a purpose for them.”

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Some drivers fall somewhere in between.

“The express lanes are there for you to use,” Larry said. “If you want to use it, use it. If you don’t, then don’t. Quit worrying about it.”

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The Kansas Department of Transportation says roughly 90,000 vehicles travel U.S. 69 every day.

In March, about 51,000 drivers used the express lanes — in total for the month, not per day. That number climbed to 64,000 in April, indicating growing interest in the new pay-to-drive option.

But when you compare monthly express lane usage to the total traffic on the highway, only about 1% to 2.5% of drivers are choosing the express toll lanes. The rest are sticking with the free lanes.

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“As construction has been wrapping up and the express lanes opened in February, we anticipated that there would be a time period of folks getting used to the express lanes. And we also knew that because of some of the interchange improvements and other work that was part of the 69Express project that congestion would be relieved on its own without people having to choose to use those lanes,” said KDOT spokesperson Delaney Tholen. “As we look down the road into the future, we see that there will be more people living in the area, more people traveling through the corridor, and we expect that more people will be choosing on a daily basis to utilize the express lanes.”

The 69Express lanes stretch from 103rd Street to 151st Street. Toll prices vary depending on the direction of travel, time of day, traffic congestion and whether drivers are paying with KTAG.

According to KDOT, the lanes generated more than $43,000 in revenue in March. Figures for April have not yet been released.

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“Funding for this project came from state, local and federal sources,” Tholen said. “The city of Overland Park also committed money to the project, and that money will be repaid through revenue collected from the express lane tolls.”

KDOT has not yet calculated exactly how much time drivers are saving by using the lanes.

A reminder: express toll lanes follow the same speed limit as other lanes. In May, Overland Park police reported issuing 42 warnings and 20 citations for lane violations on U.S. 69.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

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WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — A day after the Kansas Department of Health and Environment issued a public health advisory for blue-green algae in Kansas lakes, a fisherman found hundreds of dead fish in Clearwater’s Chisholm Ridge ponds.

He said what he found surprised him.

“I was kind of in shock,” Ryder Frickey said. “It started out by I just saw one, and I looked more down the bank, and I just saw hundreds of them. Didn’t really know what to say or do.”

According to the KDHE, blooms of blue-green algae can impact how much oxygen is in the water, and low oxygen can result in fish mortality.

Walter Dodds, a professor of biology at Kansas State, said warm temperatures also help blue-green algae grow and spread.

“So, it’s just kind of a one-two whammy of making the algae grow more, but there’s less oxygen in the water,” Dodds said.

This is not uncommon. Dodds said several lakes in Kansas have routine blooms.

Although the cause of the spread is unclear, Dodds speculates that fertilizer runoff could be a factor, which helps algae grow.

“We did get those spring rains, pretty hard spring rains,” Dodds said. “And so, it’s possible that people fertilized and then just shot it all in there and just dumped a whole bunch of fertilizer into the system.”

Clearwater is cleaning up the fish in both ponds on Tuesday, but, for now, there is not much to do other than let the algae take its course and wait a couple of weeks.

The Oklahoma Sooners are heading back to Omaha for the College World Series for the first time since 2022 after OU swept Kansas in the super regionals. Oklahoma outscored the Jayhawks 21-3 in the two games that took three days to play due to a rain delay on Sunday.

The Sooners head to Omaha as one of the hottest teams in college baseball after knocking off Georgia Tech in the regionals and sweeping Kansas to punch their ticket to Omaha.

Oklahoma hit seven home runs in the two games against Kansas, and on Sunday and Monday, the Sooners pitching staff limited the Jayhawks lineup to just four runs.

The Sooners are one of five SEC teams heading to Omaha, joining Alabama, Texas, Ole Miss, and Georgia. The Sooners will open College World Series play against Alabama on Saturday. But before we get to that, here’s how social media reacted to the Sooners series clinching win.