Groundbreaking takes place for road improvements near $4B Panasonic plant

DE SOTO, Kan. (KCTV) - A groundbreaking ceremony kicked off construction for road improvements near Panasonic’s $4 billion electric vehicle battery manufacturing facility in De Soto, Kansas.

The $61 million road construction project will include upgrades along 103rd Street between Evening Star Road and the Lexington Avenue/K-10 interchange, and a one-mile stretch of Astra Parkway south of 103rd Street.

The infrastructure improvements along the roadways near the plant are scheduled to be completed late next year.

“While it’s located here in Johnson County, it will have a ripple effect across the state,” Kansas Governor Laura Kelly said of the Panasonic manufacturing facility. “In fact, it already has.”

“Other businesses are now more interested in coming here,” U.S. Senator Jerry Moran said. “There are opportunities across Kansas for those businesses.”

An expected 4,000 jobs will be directly created by the Panasonic facility. An additional 4,000 more jobs will be created by suppliers and community businesses.

Governor Kelly said the high-quality jobs could create more than $500 million in additional income annually.

“For De Soto, this is far more than a road construction project,” De Soto Mayor Rick Walker said. “This represents our path forward for our community’s incredibly bright and promising future.”

The goal is to make roads safer and more accessible for thousands of Panasonic employees and suppliers. They’ll soon be used to deliver Panasonic’s products, as well.

“Make sure it’s rated to hold those really heavy trucks to get the supplies in and out of the construction site,” U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids said.

The road improvement project is funded through the Kansas Department of Transportation’s Economic Development Program as part of the Eisenhower Legacy Transportation Program. The City of De Soto and Johnson County contributed matching funds.