One key thing about transportation improvements nowadays is that partnerships are the key to getting things done. The latest case in point are the improvements underway to Pleasant Valley Road between Antioch and North Brighton. The old windy farm road is getting a major makeover and realignment as shown in the exhibit below. It’s a joint KCMO/Gladstone project mostly funded with federal transportation funds.
Construction has been underway sometime now and it looks like a lot of progress has been made even with this cold winter. It looks like the storm inlets and pipes are in and the contractor is getting close to being ready to pave the part on Antioch south of NE 68th Terrace. This is looking south from the big water tower at NE 68th Terrace where the improvements start.
Rough grade has been cut and it looks like the survey stakes for setting up the curb string line for the paving machines have been placed. This is looking south on Antioch just south of the Randall Court Apartments.
The project will include what I think is Gladstone’s first roundabout. It’s a single lane roundabout which I think are great because traffic always flows and it helps keep speeds down in residential areas. It’s also simple to drive because it’s only one lane so all one must do is pull up, slow down, look to the left, wait, and go once it’s clear. This is looking south from Antioch as one would approach the roundabout.
Since it’s Gladstone’s first roundabout, they are putting a little civic pride into it. This is looking southeast at the Antioch approach into the roundabout.
This is looking southwest from the western Pleasant Valley Road approach into the roundabout. This is what you will see if you are coming from North Brighton and heading towards Route 1.
It appears a lot of work still needs to be done on Antioch south of the roundabout along the cemetery but I am assuming that is because the old road cannot be closed and needs to be kept open until this new construction is usable. The Saturday I was out here taking pictures there was a service going on and cars were streaming along it. Work is still being done however. This is looking north along Antioch towards the roundabout and shows the grading along the existing pavement.
Most of the work on the eastern leg is done and is open to traffic. This is looking east from the roundabout towards North Brighton.
This is the open section looking west from North Brighton.
When it’s done, the project will have a ten foot trail on the south side and a trail along old North Jackson pavement and connect to Carriage Hills. Hopefully someday it will reach over to Pleasant Valley Park and the Shoal Creek Trail if Pleasant Valley Road ever gets improved east of Brighton over to Searcy Creek Parkway.
There is some neat history in the area which maybe someday I might get around to posting about. I missed the chance this winter to try and find the old town of Acme Springs. The area has quite a bit of early settler archaeology history and there was a rather substantial freed slave community in the area. Fortunately, the Atkins-Johnson Farm folks and the City of Gladstone have done a lot of work and have extensive flyers on the Atkins and Johnson Family, the Big Shoal Cemetery, and Clay County History that you can read. I love getting my City of Gladstone history flyer with my Parks and Recreation sign up guide in the mail. They put a lot of time and effort into including history of the area.
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