Sometimes I forget things I post on this site and probably should follow up every so often. This is one of those cases. If you've been reading for a while, you might remember back in 2016 a lot of you commented when KCMO applied for a federal grant to rebuild and improve North Woodland.
Thanks to some crafty grant writing and overcoming some things unmentioned, in August/September of 2016 KCMO received a $6M federal grant towards construction and had a public meeting prior to securing right of way back in 2017.
Well all the easements necessary for the road were secured, all the federal red tape was satisfied, and less than three years after receiving federal funds, the Kansas City Missouri Parks and Recreation Department has bid and awarded a contract to rebuild the corridor and will be breaking ground next Tuesday July 30, 2019 at 10AM.
The official big brother social media invite is here so you can add it to your calendar and share the event.
Join us! Tuesday, July 30 at 10am #KCParks #goKC More>>https://t.co/45XRY2n75P @KCNorthlandInfo @NorthlandNewsCC
— KCMO Parks and Rec (@KCMOParks) July 25, 2019
In case you missed the meetings or other posts, North Woodland from 96th Street up to Shoal Creek Parkway will be rebuilt as a two lane parkway with on-street bike lanes, curbs, streetlights, a sidepath trail on the east side, and a sidewalk on the other.
The project will also include roundabouts at 96th Street, 100th Street, 106th Street, and Shoal Creek Parkway to eliminate the traffic stoppages caused by the 4 way stops. Here are some excerpts from the public meeting display. I'm sure some things changed as the design was finalized but it should give you a general idea of what the final project will look like. North is the right and west is to the top of the pictures. This one is from 96th Street at the left roundabout and 100th Street at the right roundabout.
Next one has the 100th Street roundabout on the left and the overhead power lines/station/Staley golf maintenance shed on the right.
Next one continues with the the overhead power lines/station/Staley golf maintenance shed on the left and the 106th Street peanut about on the right.
Last one has the 106th Street peanut about on the left and the Shoal Creek Parkway roundabout and end of the project on the right.
Why roundabouts? Simple, the roundabouts are more efficient than 4 way stop and signalized intersections. One has to just go one mile west and look at how overbuilt the North Oak and Shoal Creek Parkway is. Signals create inefficiency which create the need to widen to four lanes. Rather than overbuild the project in three phases, over half the corridor can be rebuilt as a safe road. Think of North Brighton north of Vivion Road which is 5 lanes and then turns right back into an unimproved 2 lane farm road right in front of Ravenwood Elementary. That project was done back in 2010 or so and almost ten years later the next phase is about to begin because 5 lane roads are extremely expensive. Ask yourself if you'd want to wait another twenty years to fix the unsafe corridor or would rather have a safe two lane parkway.
One day when one of the kids had a practice at Happy Rock Park, I took my bike and rode the Shoal Creek Trail up to Barry Road then took Maplewoods Parkway up to 96th Street. I then continued up to about 106th Street where I turned around. I've ridden my bike on Route 9 through the 635 and 169 interchanges, Broadway through Penn Valley Park, 47th Street in the Plaza, and Front Street in the Northeast Industrial District and let me just say that North Woodland was by far the street I felt most likely to die on.
There is no semblance of a shoulder and it's an instant drop off at the side of the pavement. The pavement is trash because it's a gravel road that just had some asphalt slapped on it over the years.
The hills hinder sight lines so it's hard to see a car let alone a walker or bicyclist. I had the pleasure of taking the ditch when two big trucks went by.
The project manager for the Parks Department that did this job worked his tail off and gets all the credit for it. I'd name him but he'd chew me out because he's extremely humble. If you live in the area, check out the groundbreaking and thank him for leading a positive team that was focused on getting the road rebuilt and getting it rebuilt as soon as possible.
I'm not sure of the phases and which portion will start first but if I were you, I'd follow KC Parks on social media here, here, here, and here to stay up to date on things all over KCMO. You might also need to remind me to do some follow up posts as construction happens.
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