The Line Creek Loudmouth

Gladstone's Hobby Hill Park West Opens Tomorrow

Ladies and gentlemen, if you aren’t doing anything tomorrow, load up the kids and head over to the 7600 block of North Broadway tomorrow for the 10AM grand opening of the new Hobby Hill West Park playground and interpretive nature area.

Here’s the invitation that I found on the Gladstone Chamber of Commerce FB page.

The western edge of the park was rather overgrown with honeysuckle and not very inviting. Now the western edge of the park looks like this with the picture taken from the hill on the southern edge of the park looking north with Broadway on the left.

The playground design is a pure active playground which we desperately need north of the river. The signature piece is a large climbing slide contraption. This is looking northeast from the parking lot entrance.

The circular trail goes between the pond and stream and the playground and connects to active workout type play equipment. This is looking towards the east.

There was a lot of rock on the site and the designers and contractors used a lot of it within the site to create plenty of climbing places and also for parents to watch.

The four-year-old and every other kid there loved the “gazelle freestyle” thing.

Playground also had the now very important saucer swings which are always being used.

The park also had the all-important ZIPLINE!!!!

The designers and contractor also terraced the limestone as a natural amphitheater.

This is going to become our other go-to park (other being the YMCA Challenger Park). I encourage you to get out tomorrow. The weather will be great and if you want more of these types of things, your elected officials need to know. A lot of times parks and trails projects take heat for costing too much when other things are “more necessary” but I’ve watched over $2M go towards buying right of way from one owner on the Flintlock Flyover project, nearly $2M to relocate the west outer road north of I-29 and NW 64th Street, over a half a million dollars for one parcel on Englewood Road, and many millions of dollars to widen Barry Road by Zona Rosa/other northland streets. I’m always amazed at how spending gobs of money for property for cars is okay but park improvements that help our neighborhoods gets scrutinized especially when so many kids are facing weight issues with the corresponding adult health care costs.

Show up tomorrow and thank the Gladstone Mayor, City Council, and staff for all the work that went into getting this project done.  You can also check out this really neat background kiosk which uses an old USGS topo map as the background.  Don't think that I'm not stealing that idea as my own.

Parkville Going Big at 45 and I-435

Buckle up and pay attention folks.  There is going to be some homework at the end of this post.  Looks like there is finally some development pressure at the interchange of I-435 and Route 45.  It appears that there is some substantial rezoning being proposed in the fair city of Parkville.  Everything shaded below is going to be impacted and discussed at a Parkville Planning and Zoning Commission meeting next week.

The area roughly ID'd as Parcel IX is being proposed to become Creekside Residential.  This is the area hatched below.

The development would include 111 single family homes, 100 townhouses, and 216 apartments per the staff report and would look something like this below.  Note, north is at the top, Brink Meyer is on the right and I-435 is on the left. The Thousand Oaks subdivision would be to the right of this.

Just to the north of that and south of Route 45, roughly in Tract VIII, a project being called Creekside Commercial is being proposed in the area hatched below.

This project would include "planned commercial development consisting of hotel, restaurant, grocery/market and other commercial and mixed-use retail uses on 38+/- acres."  Site plan is below with Route 45 at the top, Brink Meyer and Thousand Oaks on the right, I-435 on the left and the existing gas station (not shown) in the upper right hand corner.

One editorial and a big thing that concerns me is neither of these plans on the east side of I-435 show a trail along Brush Creek.  It's been long planned that there would be a trail along Brush Creek from the Missouri River up to Tiffany Springs Park.  This trail was part of the 18+/- year old Northland Trails Vision Plan (see excerpt here) and if it was built, it would connect the Missouri River, Line Creek, and 152 Trail systems and create a roughly 26 mile loop. 

Seems like it could be done easily in the floodplain or along the sanitary sewer easement without impacting any development.  I hope it happens for everyone who lives out there.  It would be an amazing trail.  It would allow people to get to this development without using a car and would be a great amenity for hotels and offices within the projects.  It also would be great bike tourism for downtown Parkville because visitors could use the hotels and then ride down for brew pub dinner <end editorial comment>.

The northwest corner of 435/45 is being pitched as Lakeside Northwest Quadrant, "a planned residential development consisting of 100 single family homes and 160 townhome units; and a planned commercial development consisting of two hotels, three restaurants, one quick serve restaurant, one pharmacy/medical office, one gas station and retail uses."

The site plan for Lakeside Northwest Quadrant is below.  Route 45 is on the bottom and I-435 is on the right.

Another editorial comment on the plan.  It would be nice if they pulled the west outer road for 435 through the development so that it isn't so close to the interchange.  It would save MoDOT (ie us taxpayers) the cost of relocating that outer road once traffic becomes so unbearable because of a frontage road 100 feet away from a ramp terminal (ie like 45 and I-29).  I tried showing how easy it would be with a blue line and the red X's denoting the road being abandoned.  Maybe there could be some motivation for everyone to work together to move the road and then release some of the right of way that would not be needed as a trade off to the developer to offset the land lost with the relocation so it's a win-win for private interests and us taxpayers.......................

Lastly, the final corner is being pitched as Parkville Industrial Southwest Quadrant and would be "a planned industrial development consisting of 29 pad sites for office/service and industrial uses, including manufacturing, storage and warehousing."

Site plan is industrial so it isn't too sexy.  Route 45 is on the top of the picture and I-435 is on the right.

Now for your homework.  You can download and read the staff reports and all the development plan submittals here.  There is some organized opposition to the zoning changes and that's how I heard about these plans.  You can check out their FB page here.  It's a closed group but they've added their 466 members in the past week. 

The City of Parkville published a list of FAQ's of the area so I encourage you to look at their page here.  Within that FAQ page is a link to previous 2014 presentation on the area and it's opportunities.  This area is part of the Neighborhood Improvement District (NID) that has been creating some financial controversy.  Sewers and pump stations aren't cheap and somehow that debt has to be repaid.

Unfortunately this is the case of the latest victim of the Strongtowns "Illusion of Wealth" theory and need for development to pay off the NID debt.  It's no different than the Zona Rosa fiasco.

 

Proposed Northland Soccer Complex

Well school has started which means no more swimming at the pool till after 10PM and so now maybe I'll have some time (and interest) to write some stuff.  It's been a distracting summer with all the kids, a DIY disaster that I'm in the middle of, and family member that's losing a fight to cancer.

Before I get into the $40M proposed Northland soccer complex, I want to plug the Park Hill Soccer fundraiser for this fall.  If you enjoy soccer, you might enjoy helping out the kids playing with some updated stuff that the school district doesn't pick up.  You can contribute here and if anyone out there is a local business that would like to sponsor, drop me a note and I'll see what I can do to plug your wares.

Anyways, if you hadn't heard, the Platte County Economic Development Corporation hired Canyon Research Southwest, Inc. to look at the market demand for a soccer complex on the west side of Platte Purchase and between MO 152 and NW 100th Street.  There were some interesting tidbits in the report.  These are screen shots right from the November 2017 report.

Now you might ask why the Platte County EDC would pay for a report like this?

Maybe the EDC is getting tired of watching some of the 333,000+ people in Clay and Platte drive all the way down to Oklahoma, er OPKS, to play soccer and also all the traveling teams keeping their hotel rooms full on the weekends when business travel is light.

The report also listed some data on Platte County major private sector employers which I found interesting.  Riverside has a heck of an employment base for a town with just over 3,000 residents.

I wouldn't get your hopes up on burning gas heading to Oklahoma however as the biggest obstacle to this happening isn't coming up with the $40M to build it.  Money or lack thereof hasn't stopped a lot of things from happening over the years.  You can read through the entire 57 page report here on the Platte County EDC website. 

I'd also recommend reading Valerie Verkamp's 11/29/17 write up in the Platte County Landmark.  I don't have any neat looking renderings handy and even if I did, this is all conceptual and subject to change so it'd be eye candy only.

Lastly, I'll put one more plug in for my oldest and the Park Hill Soccer fundraiser.  I've not one to let kids think that money grows on trees.  My oldest worked his tail off earlier this year to earn money to go on a mission trip by refereeing basketball/soccer and doing yard work for folks around the neighborhood.  Unfortunately Menard's won't hire anyone under the age of 16 so I can't make him work there (yet) which is too bad because he could ride his bike to work.  He's got the unfortunate luck of being my kid and gets a lot of "character building." If any of you are looking for kids to do yard work this fall, let me know and I might have a whole herd ready to go.  Their character can always use a good "building."

This fundraiser isn't for just him and the support goes to help the entire 70+ kids on the team and will buy items that will last for years.  You want to make sure our kids have the proper equipment to avoid injuries unlike this guy.........

Clip credit to Studio C.

Got Clothes You Don't Need, Help Others This Week

Everyone else enjoying summer?  Well we are and I should have posted this earlier and I am sorry I didn't post this earlier but I've got a lot of things going on right now and it snuck up on me. 

It's Antioch Bible Baptist Church's annual free clothing give away. 

If you have some clothing especially baby/toddler/kid clothing, bundle it up today and drive it over to 800 NE 72nd Street Gladstone, MO 64118 and a group of volunteers will get it sorted for folks in the community who need clothes to come pick it up free this weekend.

You can get a tax receipt, more closet space, and the satisfaction of helping someone who needs clothing for their family.

Public Input On Planning Grant Applications

I've been doing a lot more biking to work lately.  Part of it is because I have a goal to do it once a week.  Part of it is because I drive older, late model cars that sometimes need some preventative maintenance or repair.  I dropped off the car in Parkville yesterday so I biked into downtown along every part of Route 9 and survived. 

I took a break here this morning and pondered increasing my life insurance policy online..... pic.twitter.com/vZ69qPhMOh

— Wes Minder (@WesKCMO) June 26, 2018

I've blogged about the US 169 and Route 9 issues and the railroad "bridge of death" before.  We've got a pretty amazing connected trail system that's come together but unfortunately there are some glaring unsafe gaps that 99% of you would never even think about riding a bike through.

I wasn't the only one navigating the @MoDOT_KC Route 9 #bridgeofdeath commute this morning pic.twitter.com/mMVvcydKTb

— Wes Minder (@WesKCMO) August 3, 2017

I am no longer going to complain or think it's tough biking from Platte County to downtown KCMO or North KC because today (since it's kids eat free night everywhere) the kids had a dentist appointment in the Shoal Creek area so after work I biked up to the Liberty area to meet the family so we could go to Zaxby's™.  Let's just say there's no comfortable way to bike from downtown KCMO to Liberty or southern Clay County. 

There's no low stress bike route from DT KCMO to Liberty pic.twitter.com/OL78JnSNb0

— Wes Minder (@WesKCMO) June 26, 2018

I chose to go through the Old Northeast and down the hill on Chestnut Trafficway but had to ride Front Street for a little then Riverfront Road.  After crossing the Chouteau Bridge, I really didn't want to take the hill on Chouteau Parkway and the steady climb on Parvin.  I would have loved to have gotten on old Birmingham Road but there is no way to get from the bridge down.  I ended up using the shoulder of Route 210 over to Searcy Creek Parkway and then cut through the Maple Park area.

Anyways, there is a competitive planning grant funding opportunity underway so there are some projects north of the river in this area you might be interested.  Two of the projects I could have really used the past two days.  The Mid-America Regional Council is looking for feedback on projects so here are links to the applications where you can comment one way or the other.

Platte/Clay County Bike/Ped Gap Removal Project (aka US 169 and Route 9 Briarcliff area)-Kansas City

North Missouri Riverfront Buck O’Neil and Chouteau Bridge Trail Connections-Kansas City

NKC Bike Master Plan-North Kansas City

North Oak Complete Streets-Gladstone

Surprisingly, cars shooting by at 65+ mph hasn't been the scariest thing I've dealt with on my bike route......

That wasn't a tarp strap on the shoulder on my way in the I almost biked over...... pic.twitter.com/ba9osMtDdx

— Wes Minder (@WesKCMO) June 25, 2018

National Train Day This Weekend

I've been told thanks to some donations from Kansas City Southern Railroad and JE Dunn Construction Company that this year's National Train Day celebration this Saturday May 19th is going to be bigger and better than all the others. 

In case you don't know how we celebrate National Train Day in the Line Creek Valley, we do it with our wonderful volunteer operated Kansas City Northern Railroad aka the Line Creek Train in Frank Vaydik Park.  In case you need directions, here is how to get there but remember that Englewood Road is closed west of US 169 so you will need to take Waukomis Drive from I-29 or NW 68th Street.

This is a great event and this is a great opportunity to check out the train for free this weekend and enjoy other activities and half price ice skating.  Here are some highlights of last year's event.

 

I also encourage you to plug into the Kansas City Parks social pages.  They've got staff that puts the effort into these events and it takes a lot of work and time.  They'd rather have a ton of people show up than no one so like their FB page here, their Twitter page here, their Insta page here, and their YT page here.   They also have an email sign up on their webpage if your "anti-social" where you can sign up with your email by geography so you don't miss any events.   Get signed up/following so you know what's going on.  That way you won't be one of those "I didn't know anything about that" people.

They also created a FB event so add it to your calendar so you don't forget to swing by Saturday and let the kiddos have some fun. 

 

Parkville Doubling Down on the Development Welfare Game?

Today I was just minding my own business driving along the newly widened Route 45 when I spotted where MoDOT decided to protect people in their cars with their seat belts and air bags by installing sharp metal guardrail which would be fine except the guardrail is right next to a multi-purpose trail.  This trail of course will be used by people who don't have safety features and any accident or stumble they have would result in the guardrail disfiguring or fatally impaling them.  This kind of put me in a mood.  Of course it could also be the fact that I was driving on this road on my way back from freezing my rear off at a kid's soccer game.......

I also noticed that this less than a year old guardrail end terminal which I think costs around $3,000 has already been hit.  Maybe the guardrail should have been installed on the backside of the trail away from the edge of the street and where cyclists and pedestrians wouldn't face instant death if they slipped.....

It reminded me of my earlier post and gripe about the professional negligence towards non-motorized users' safety on Route 45.  The misapplication of the AASHTO Roadside Design Guide in urban areas makes urban streets less safe than they can be.  I also took the roundabout at 45 and K at 40mph because those DOT roundabouts are designed to handle the minimal amount of semi-trucks because engineering group-think designs for the worst possible scenario without evaluating probabilities and DOT's and DOT firms are set up to design everything like a freeway first and foremost.

Anyways, as I approached Route 9, I noticed that the hillside on the south side of the highway right after "THE National" had been deforested and remembered that there was a TIF approved years ago and wondered if some taxpayer subsidized development was finally happening.

I did a quick internet search and turns out, it looks like Parkville is in the process/has approved/has tabled a TIF that will divert funding away from the Park Hill School District. I thought maybe it was for the big hillside and that might have made sense but it's for a piece of ground with Route 45 frontage, two existing traffic signals, and is somewhat graded already on the north side of 45 and Melody Lane.  It's the tract shown in red below.  The Price Chopper^TM is to the south of the site.  Graden Elementary is to the right or east.

This site of course is SOOOO blighted and so rough that it looks like this.....

It's bad enough that the Metro North TIF is taking away money from the Platte County School District and the office to hotel redevelopment on Ambassador Drive is going to withhold property taxes from Park Hill but if ever there was a perfect poster child of the abuse of the "blight" definition in the TIF statute, it's this one.  It might be why House Bill 1236 is getting some traction in Jefferson City this year.

I might understand the public benefit if NW Cross Road was being realigned with Bell Road and the traffic signal but looking at the site plan, this looks like more cookie cutter suburban auto oriented retail.  I guess it would be nice to have a McDonald's^TM or Burger King^TM with a play place on that site since there are a lot of kids in the area.  I'm sure a chicken place is due to show up in this part of Platte County and don't forget we could use another pizza place, nail salon, and cell phone store.  We couldn't have more nice things like that without TIF.

The staff report can be read from the entire 277 page Parkville BOA packet here.  Just look for APEX.

It appears that there was a special BOA meeting on January 24, 2018 just to talk about how much to give away for the development.   Most of these TIF plans and staff reports are a bunch a pencil pusher busy work so I just skip to the tables because that's where the reality is.  You can read the 61 page  packet here and decide on your own. 

Not only will the development site have TIF, it will have a Community Improvement District aka CID (maybe even two) so you can pay an extra one or whatever cent for the privilege of shopping there.  Now let's take a look at the proposed TIF budget shall we.

The TIF subsidy on this run of the mill development is 35% of the project cost.  It also contributes $843,122 towards the purchase of the land.  Since is is a PILOTs (aka property tax) diversion TIF, this impacts the Park Hill School District and these concerns were noted in the November 13, 2017 TIF Commission meeting.

The last news article I could find about this besides perusing all the BOA packets was a January 17 write up by Jeanette Faubion.

While I was doing that, I discovered that Parkville also was considering more handouts but this time using Chapter 100/353 abatement programs to build an office building along Route 9 just south of the west entrance to Park College.

It's a four story office building with tons of parking because cars is what makes Parkville unique.

 

The consultant study lists this little nugget.

Here's the big picture question from the consultant report.  They paint the rosy "but for" analysis that after 15 years, the taxing jurisdictions will be rolling in the dough.

If Parkville does this and I'm reading the report right, this means that over 25 years with all the increased traffic on Route 9, impervious surface, and parking lot maintenance, the City will net $507,000 in today's dollars???  That would be enough to pay for a traffic signal at 6th and Route 9 and its operational cost for 25 years.  Is it really worth it? 

Is this something a city that is already dipping into emergency reserves for prior eco/devo schemes should be doing?

Go ahead and troll all you want like I did because all agendas/packets/video can be found here.

If you are a Park Hill School District parent in Parkville you might want to think about the precedent being set because we are the ones that will pick up the bill with rising enrollment while the developer cashes the checks drives on down the road to the next vacant piece of dirt........

Clip credit to Isuzu Motors Ltd and whoever did their campaign.

Pleasant Valley Road Improvements

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 68^th Terrace.  This is looking south from the big water tower at NE 68^th 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.

 

Get Lost in Parma Woods

Just when I think I've been everywhere in Platte County, I realize I have so much to learn.  Since yesterday was a cold day, I figured I'd "build character" with the older boys by wandering in the woods.  I didn't feel like doing more exploring in Tiffany Springs Park and we've wandered all over the Line Creek Valley.  I thought about maybe trying to find any remnants of the long lost Island School but figured it was probably long gone because the area is all farmed and the area has flooded for 100+ years.

I finally decided we'd check out the Parma Woods Conservation Area near I-435 and the Missouri River and boy were we happily surprised.  Little advice before you load up and head out, if you're triggered by guns, you probably ought to avoid because there is an active shooting range and folks use it. 

The conseravation area has a nice paved trailhead with toilet and trail map.  I'm not sure how long the loop is because we wandered off the gravel trail a little but in total we hiked over 2.5 miles.  The start of the trail looks like an old road.  This is looking north from the parking lot.

I assume it's an old road because the 1912 soil map of Platte County shows a road that would be in this general area and there is a fence and a drop off to the right of the trail.  See the red arrow for the road in the map below.  Also see the green arrow?  I'm not sure if that symbol is a cemetery or something else but it's in the middle of I-435 now.

At the end of the flat part of the trail, there is an old foundation which I am assuming was a barn.

From there is was up hill.

And back down.

The pictures don't do it justice but the area was abundant in tree species--plenty of sycamores, oaks, shag-bark hickories, etc..

We found a deer stand tree and of course the boys had to try and climb up it. 

There's a little ephemeral stream that you have to cross but it's a great place to try and do some spear fishing.....

We stumbled on an area that was mined at one time which made for great climbing.

The nearby area to the west was mined according to the 1948 USGS Topo map but this area wasn't close to it.  I can't totally figure out where it is on the topo map because it's kind of hard to get my bearings with the landfill and I-435 blowing through everything but I think we were in the area by the blue arrow.

Right in that hillside area, someone had built a primitive structure or fire pit with the remnant stones.

We then reached the end of the trail but I had the park map downloaded before we left and saw we were close to the high point.  I figured there had to be something at the high point so we started up along the ridge and we found something.  The first thing I saw was this. 

This is either a cold storage or a storm shelter that was attached to what I am assuming was a very primitive log house.  The stone foundation was still neatly placed.

It had a small brick chimney.

Overall I'd recommend taking a few hours and exploring the area.  It's also off the beaten path and you get a country drive feel getting to the trailhead.  I'd also recommend checking out Richard Johnson's page for some other hiking ideas. 

It's not quick to get to but that's kind of nice.  Little trivia tidbit for you.  When I-435 was being planned, MoDOT actually bought and designed a folded diamond interchange.  I came across the plans one time and took a picture.  Unfortunately, I cannot find it so I schematically drew it in using that incredible CAD system call MS Paint.

It was one of three interchanges on the I-435 loop that were planned for but not built.

Historical Marker Dedication Tomorrow

One of the reasons why I started this blog was to archive and share history.  It even has its own category of posts. It's a repository of stuff I stumble on or things I find interesting.  Did you know there's an actual group of folks who take historical documentation very seriously?

The Native Sons and Daughters of Greater Kansas City is a group with a ton more dedication than I have to preserving our area's history. 

They have installed and are dedicating three new historical markers tomorrow (Saturday 4/7/18) at 11AM at the YMCA Challenger Park (click here for directions) and you're all invited.

This group has mapped all of their historical markers for you to learn about our past.

It's going to be cold tomorrow but bundle up and come learn more about the pioneer past.  Do a little homework before you come and read up about the Barry Road Flea Market before you come.  Also, I forgot to wish the old town of Barry a happy 189th Birthday last March.

I-29 Office to Hotel Conversion

While not as exciting as the saga of The Boat at Tiffany Springs there is some redevelopment of long vacant office space along the I-29 corridor underway.  Back in the 1970's, someone built a pair of matching office buildings between NW 112th Street and Tiffany Springs Parkway. 

Those buildings of course lost their sexyness and tenants moved to newer places because that's what happens in suburbia.  Someone has bought the south tower and is in the process of converting it to a hotel. 

If you've been along I-29 lately, you may have noticed that the exterior shell and interior have been stripped to the concrete skeleton.

The new interior walls are being framed right now.

It looks like the parking lots will mostly remain the same although more parking will be added on the green space on the southern portion of the parcel.

This is what the front door of the hotel will look like and is from the viewpoint if you were looking south from Ambassador Drive.

This is the southern view of the hotel or what you would see if you were going north on I-29.

This is the westerly side of the building or what you would see if you were driving south on I-29.

Lastly this is the view of the eastern side of the building or what you will see from Ambassador Drive.

The project's got a ten year, 100% tax abatement according to this old KC Business Journal article.  Now what to do with all the other vacant office buildings in the area given the changing work environments?

 

Clip credit to the Strong Towns movement.

US 169 Buck O'Neil Bridge Environmental Study Final Alternatives

Well final conceptual alternatives have been posted to the www.beyondtheloopkc.com website in case you've signed up for updates.  You also need to take the online survey which shows all of the concepts and provide your thoughts in the simple sliding scale.  The survey will look like the screenshot below so you can read, review, process, and rate it.

Before I get started, let me just say you all did a great job engaging in the first survey.  Below is a heat map of responses and as you can see, the I-29 corridor was well represented.

There has been quite a bit of scuttlebutt on how a direct connection to I-35 is possible and there are four ideas.  All of these would be a heck of a lot easier and cheaper if that WB 70 to SB 35 flyover ramp was gone or could be an at-grade intersection.  I'm going to try and overview them while a six month old sits in my lap and tries to grab every cord and piece of paper on the desk in front of her.

The first concept builds the new bridge to the far west with a connection to 4th Street and that's the main way to access downtown from north of the river.

The second one builds the new bridge to the far west and makes the north of the river connection from 5th and 6th Street.

The third one builds the new bridge to the far west and is kind of like the first option above (4th Street) but is more connected to Broadway.

The fourth one builds the new bridge right next to the existing bridge but still has a direct connection to I-35 so north-south access wouldn't be forced to sit at the stoplights at 5th or 6th Street. 

The survey also wants your input on the I-70 north loop portion of the project.  Option below removes all the ramps.

Option below skinnies up the interstate but pushes it up next to 6th Street.

Option below skinnies up the interstate but pushes it up next to 5th Street.

Last option removes the interstate and traffic uses a connected Independence Avenue and 6th Street.

You also can voice your temperature on lowering Route 9 back to street level.  Right now it's an elevated freeway with multiple bridges that were built in the 80's.  At some point in the next twenty years those bridges are going to need to be replaced and the way MoDOT is broke, it's a question of do we want double down on the way it is or look at something else.  Most of the traffic on Route 9 goes straight into downtown so all it does is allow me in the morning to do 30 until I get to the stop light in North Kansas City at 10th Street, then race up to 60 and hope KCPD isn't running radar, and then stop at the traffic signal at Admiral. 

If we have a new US 169 Buck O'Neil Bridge with direct connection to I-35, a great deal of traffic will start using the US 169/Broadway Extension corridor which makes this option feasible.  The difference in the two renderings below is one puts Route 9 to the east and the other pushes it to the west.

I got distracted with what I thought was a smelly diaper and some kids who wanted to paint so if there's any incoherent thoughts or I missed anything, all of these displays can be downloaded for your enjoyment in a rather large PDF here.  I just took the time to screenshot the ones I thought were interesting. 

Also, this is all moot if KCMO voters don't vote to renew a one cent capital improvements sales tax tomorrow.  This tax has existed since the 80's I think and you can read the official FAQ page here.

I created a FB event for you to like so you don't forget.  Just click here.

 

Don't Worry, the Line Creek Train Is Going to be Fine

Don't worry folks.  The Kansas City Northern Railroad aka the Line Creek Train is not going anywhere. It just needed some TLC.

I don't know if those of you that ride the train have noticed but the south bank of the East Fork of Line Creek had been eroding near the tunnel so the train was in jeopardy.  The track also was in the way of the proposed improvements to Waukomis Drive (which I just realized I haven't blogged about and overview PDF can be found here).

Work is underway this off-season to relocate the tracks and to stabilize the stream bank.  This is a picture looking west at the restored stream bank.  We lost some trees but don't worry we'll have wild sycamores and cottonwoods sprouting up in no time.  I don't know how many capital projects (ex #1 NW 72nd extension to Green Hills) I've specified street trees which have been eclipsed in growth by wild trees sprouting from seeds. 

The volunteers at the KC Northern Railroad are a dedicated group and are putting in the blood, sweat, and tears to bend the track back into place.  We wouldn't have this wonderful treasure if it wasn't for the guys that have dedicated their time to this track.  Everyone who's ever rode that track owes a great deal of thanks to them. 

The rough grading is complete and the rock base is in place.  This is looking from the tunnel east towards Waukomis.

I'm such a nerd that I actually took a semester class at the University of Illinois on railroad engineering and it's rather amazing how railroad tracks are a very simple design which hasn't changed in 150+ years.  Wood or concrete beams hold rails, rock base distributes the load, and steel handles the daily grinding and friction of rail cars.  It doesn't matter the size or width of the railroad--the technology is still the same.

Once they get the rails nailed into the wood timbers, more rock will be added to stabilize the rails.  This is looking east from the tunnel towards Waukomis.

I also took a picture of the arch bridge on Waukomis Drive which once was the Kansas City to St. Joseph Interurban Railroad (in case you're confused, check this out). This arch was built in the 1910's.  I tried finding a video to explain why railroad bridges will last 100+ years and road bridges really only last 50 years but couldn't find one.  In case you were wondering, we don't put destructive ice salt on railroad bridges and trains weigh so much that the loading on a rail bridge is less destructive than a semi truck going over a road bridge. 

You haven't experienced life on the edge unless you've rode a bike over one of these Waukomis bridges and been able to see the drop off towards instant death.  I'd strongly recommend keeping both hands on the steering wheel through this area because there is no recovery zone if you stray outside the white lines.  This is looking east from the north edge of the train tracks.

The track will be straightened along Waukomis but it appears to be slightly flatter than the old layout.  I know sometimes in the hot summer the old engines slowed down a bit when going up the grade and around the curve in this area with a full train.

The railroad is also getting some expanded gravel parking.  I don't know why everyone thinks gravel parking is unacceptable.  It's the most pervious parking surface that can be installed which helps reduce storm water runoff and allows pollutants to infiltrate and be filtered rather than flowing straight into our water supply.  It's also tons cheaper than asphalt.  I guess over time too many blue hairs that their blue suede shoes get dusty....

The rain this week might have set things back but I know the kids are all interested and looking forward to opening weekend for the train.  In case you are ever looking for something to do on Saturday or Sunday, it's the best entertainment for two trips around for 75 cents. 

Honda of Tiffany Springs™ Expanding

Sometimes I see development plans and I'm just like "barf, that's boring" but suck it up and write a post just so you know what's going on.  I haven't been doing my real estate posting because there's really been nothing that's been interesting enough for me to give up a half hour to post.

Sometimes I try to put some spin on it or my own take like the low quality self storage plans at Green Hills and Old Tiffany Springs Road or Green Hills and Barry Road which is deforesting the Line Creek Valley as you read this.  I guess with this case, I'll just point out like those self storage developments, we're getting more impervious pavement and the added tax benefit of stormwater fees and without buildings or employees.

If you haven't been on Old Tiffany Springs Road lately on your way to help keep Platte County afloat by helping pay off the Zona Rosa bonds, Honda of Tiffany Springs™ is expanding to the west. 

They are building more car storage because apparently there isn't enough car inventory for sale in this country (did you that in 2015 know Missouri had 926 vehicles per 1000 people in the state?).

The parking lot will have some perious pavement that, in theory, is supposed to mitigate run-off and will have some landscaping to buffer it from the street.

Rather boring but it seems like folks are getting restless about the type of development that's starting to happen in the area as evidenced by two seperate petition drives. 

We've got two citizen led iniatives with one wanting to build a park at Green Hills and 152 and another group that wants to preserve the heart of the Line Creek Valley. 

Both petitions can be found here for Green Hills/152 and here for the Last KC Forest if signing stuff is something you do.  Both groups have gotten some TV time in case you missed it.

 

 

Watching that KCTV5 report, I can't help but picture the hillside being bulldozed to build a parkway or a bunch of sports fields and think I'm glad I'm not the only one who cares about nature and places to enjoy it.  I actually stumbled on a cluster of cardinals today that must be migrating around the area.  They seemed to like Line Creek.

Read the Zona Rosa Bonds Yourself but We're Still Screwed

If you didn't see the article from Steve Vockrodt yesterday, here it is. 

The money line in the article? "Zona Rosa's occupancy rate has fallen from 85.9 percent in 2014 to 60 percent in 2017."  This is what happens when we overbuild parking and subsidize parking garages.  Cue the Strongtowns.org plug.

We wind up sinking capital in an asset that provides no direct return on investment.  Not only is Platte County facing a huge budget shortfall for years to come, how will the vacant 40 percent of the shopping center get leased and help pay off Platte County debt when Metro North Crossing is being subsidized to the tune of $71M and will probably steal some tenants?

Anyways, all of the information being reported could easily be found by someone with a computer and some savvy search skills.  I went to the Electronic Municipal Market Access website and did a simple search for "zona rosa" and all of the debt issuances appeared.

From this page, one can click on any of the debt issuance.  I pulled the $19.2M 10/4/2007 issuance.  I think if you click here, you can see it too.  It should pull up a page like this:

From there, one can pull up the original document.  One can also see how and when the bonds have traded. 

What I like about the site, is it also has "continuing disclosures" tab which had annual reports.

I pulled the most recent one.  You can read it here.  It had quite a few nuggets of information.

The report had a schedule of annual debt payments.  Looks like the bond payback increases to a roughly $2.8M annual average in 2022 with a $5M or so balloon payment in 2032?

However, the revenues of the district in 2016 were only $1,792,302.

I went back to the report for the year before and it looks like TDD sales tax revenue was flat from 2014-2016.  I made this spreadsheet to see the annual change.

If the district is only collecting over $1.7M or so but the debt payments continue to grow, Platte County taxpayers are screwed based on these reports.  I encourage you to do your own digging.  Also, parking garages and parking lots are bankrupting us.  Stop and think about the interest and debt we are passing onto our kids for our "free" parking.  Building that massive parking garage at Zona was worth what to us?

Clip credit to Vox.

 

Forgotten Railroads In Platte County

This week's post on the Frisco Highline Trail between Springfield and Bolivar, Missouri got me thinking about abandoned railroads here locally so I pulled up some Sanborn fire insurance maps and old plat books and used them as necessary to trace old railroads in Platte County.  I actually learned something tonight.  I found two railroad corridors that I never knew about!

Here was Platte County in 1930.

I always knew there was an old line between Leavenworth up along Bee Creek to Dearborn (blue) and one from Beverly up to Edgerton (magenta).  What I didn't realize is that the Beverly-Edgerton line extended all the way south to Waldron and that there was a line that connected Dearborn to Edgerton (purple).  We also had the Kansas City to St. Joseph Interurban Railroad (yellow) which I've blogged about so much that I created its own tag which you can read the entire collection of posts here.

While I was doing this research, I came across some interesting things.  Since the "Bee Creek" Rock Island line and the Interurban Line intersected in Dearborn, I started with the 1930 plat map but it didn't give me enough detail on how three railroads came together.

Since I couldn't exactly extrapolate and guess how the railroads used to be since MoDOT built a state highway, North Platte built a school, and other businesses grew, I pulled the 1917 Sanborn fire insurance maps.  Unfortunately there was not much to insure in Dearborn back then so the map wasn't as large or as detailed as I wanted it to be.

These Sanborn maps are hard to read even for a seasoned map nerd like myself.  Print and paper was obviously not cheap in 1917 so they crammed everything into one page with no match lines. 

It looked like Dearborn had two trail depots.  The one that served the railroad to Edgerton was located near 2nd and Delaware right where the Platte Valley Bank is located.

It also appeared that there was a depot to serve the Interurban where Commercial Street is located. 

The Sanborn map had the lot numbers so I went to the Platte County GIS, turned the lot numbers on, and voila here is where the second depot it located.

I also noticed a note and zoomed in some more.  The Sanborn map above had a note "end of wood and metal trestle."  I pulled another screenshot and apparently there was a wood and metal railroad trestle that was 20 feet high along Commercial Street?  Was the Interurban elevated and that was the bridge over Maple Leaf (now Route Z)?  Did the dirt get removed when North Platte graded their baseball and football fields?  I just don't know. 

If you want to zoom in and out, you can see the 1917 Dearborn map courtesy of the University of Missouri by following this link here.  From the Platte County GIS, I can see where the Edgerton railroad was consumed by Route Z.  See the weird, rounded property lines along Delaware between 2nd and 3rd Streets?

I wasn't planning on spending much time researching Dearborn but I will say that the North Platte School District always treats me great and has a really great band. 

This Bee Creek line continued north and eventually connected with the rail line that goes up through Trenton and into Iowa.  You can see all of this if you can figure out how to read an 1888 state railway map.

Since I totally nerded out, here is my Google map of these forgotten railroads and you can zoom in and out and critique my mapping skills by either clicking this link to open up a new window or using the map embedded below.

 

You Have to Try the Frisco Highline Trail and How to Do It

I'm going to Indianapolis later this year and am planning on bringing my bike to try out some other places on the way to/fro.  I was trying to find some long trails and the choices in Illinois and Indiana are limited which is strange because they are both so flat and had a ton of railroads that have been abandoned.  

Missouri has one thing going for it that could easily be expanded and that is bicycle tourism.  Looking at the map, urban areas have clusters but there are very few places where topography and natural beauty have long-haul trails that can attract people from all over the world.

The KATY has done great things for small towns that once were left for dead when the last train left town.  It's not the only long haul trail in the state however. 

Have you ever heard of the Frisco Highline Trail which connects Bolivar to Springfield?  How did I know about it?  Years ago a crew of folks from the KC area went down to Springfield and got a tour of some of the very innovative things Green County/Springfield were doing.  The community had formed a non-profit called Ozarks Greenways and it had a director who was willing to work within constraints as necessary to build a trail system where most others would say it couldn't be done.  They had a downtown creek that had been paved/channelized/ignored and they exposed it and put a trail system along it and turned it into a linear park connecting Central High School, Ozarks Technical College, and Evangel University. 

The picture below is courtesy of Ozark Greenways and it shows where the trail was built to fit underneath an existing bridge with limited clearance.  While not ideal, it's safer to cross under while ducking versus having to deal with cars.  What once was a dumping ground for tires and overgrown with invasive honeysuckle is now a place people want to be and the "greening" of the stream reduced runoff and improved water quality.

I also saw some good ideas on low water bridges and low water crossings.  I also remembered that at that time talking about the Frisco Highline Trail so as I recently attended a conference in Branson, I took the bike and on the way back since I didn't have the kids, I budgeted a couple of hours to try it out and man was I happy I did.  The Highline has differing sections but I'll start with the pictures from Bolivar and then going south and then advise you on the best way to tackle the trail.  

The trail starts in Bolivar but you can spot it on the west side of Route 13 by the old grain elevator just a mile or so north of of "Smiths" restaurant:  it of course being famous for its tenderloins (according to the billboards).  Here is the map of the whole system.

I used my oldest son's bike which is a Kent™ 700c Eagle Ridge Adventure Gravel Bike and I highly recommend you look into buying one.  It has wider tires but also works great on-road as I used it to cruise around Springfield.  I got it for him for Christmas one year and assembled it myself in fifteen minutes.  It was great on the Highline which has a rough and uneven surface in some places and I love the front disc brakes on non-paved trails.

This is a nice paved section just south of Route 13 which is where I started.  It rode great.

The trail then opens up to a restored open prairie area for maybe a quarter mile.

The trail is only paved for about two miles and then it hits a slight rough spot.  There were quite a few cattle guards along the way.  I'm thankful that local farmers and Ozarks Greenways were able to work out deals to integrate the trail without impacting farm operations.  I might use this idea in one location.  Don't worry, no cows were tipped on this afternoon.  One just has to use a little common sense and get off the bike to cross the cattle guard so as to not pop a tire and also to navigate some mud spots.  The versatility of my son's Kent™ 700c Eagle Ridge Adventure Gravel Bike came in real handy here.

There was a section that was flat and not graded well which meant the water formed ruts within the trail because the grass along the sides impeded water from flowing away from the trail essentially turning the gravel trail into a ditch. 

I did have to walk a little of this because they had not had the chance to get a grader out to recut the ditches.  This was about three miles south of Bolivar and south of Route U.

This was a mile long stretch of rough riding but it then hit a stretch where the old railroad was benched into a hill so there was good drainage and the trail surface was a fine limestone that was compacted perfectly for my road bike tires.  Here I had to cross a drive to someone's house.  They waved to me on my way back when I happened to arrive right when they got home. 

This part I was able to really fly on because the surface was solid and the trail was elevated.  I didn't like all the wild red cedars because it cramped the view.  I'd recommend that they cut them down to restore the corridor and light to the other trees along the old fence lines.

The next stretch had quite a few bridges over roads and creeks which provided some awesome views because it was transitioning from high plains to Ozarks hills.

One of the bridges and creeks had amazing views and some quality Sycamore trees.  It was very cool being that high and being able to see so much of a natural stream system from above.  The picture doesn't do it any justice.

I could upload and annotate a bunch of pictures but I won't.  I'll get straight to the best part of the ride--the Sac River Bridge.  Now it took a mile of going through some quarter inch size gravel which was rather soft on a road bike but at this point there was no stopping.  Once I got to the bridge I of course climbed under and around it to get some pictures.

I was rather gassed at this point but it was worth it but I kept plugging along because I saw in the aerial where the trail followed a creek and I'm glad I did.  I also ran into the director of Ozarks Greenways and we ended up talking for about fifteen minutes and he told me it would be worth it and it was.  Coates Branch had a shale lined bottom which is something I've never seen around here.

There was another creek strecth but the stream was right by the trail and the banks were stable.  It was very similar to the Line Creek Trail in Vaydik Park.

Now if I were you and I wasn't sure about this nor if I didn't have much time here is my "Beginner's Guide to the Frisco Highline Trail."

If you don't have much time, I would start at the trailhead in Wishart and walk or bike south to the bridge.  It's also about six miles to reach the point where I stopped where the creek reaches the top of the watershed and it returns to rolling pasture.  I'd also bring plenty of water, a spare tire/tube, an inflator, and a buddy.  The grade is nearly flat and the trail surface seems to be a lot better maintained than the north end.

It also seems to be the best scenery.  The trail south of Walnut Grove seems to follow state highways.  I ended up doing about 25 miles round trip.  It's always fun to ride something the first time and explore what is along it.  I look forward to checking out the southern portion of it sometime.  I also uploaded about 90 pictures of the whole ride to "Flickr" so if you want to see all of the other bridges and some other things I saw along the way, click here and enjoy.

US 169 Buck O'Neil Bridge Environmental Study and Short Term Repair Update

Rather than scrolling social media on the couch, I tried to compile some videos from the local media about the US 169 Buck O'Neil Bridge project and everything that is going on in addition to my more detailed post earlier this week.  I will also remind you that if you haven't lately, you need to visit the www.beyondtheloopkc.com website and take the survey on the concept strategies being discussed about the bridge and the north freeway loop.

Yesterday the KCMO City Council did quite a few good things that were overshadowed by KCI Airport.

Lost in today's shuffle @joliejustus sponsored Ordinance 180102 which fully funds the Armour Rd protected bike lane project. KCMO City Council to hear next week for approval. https://t.co/ujZATV0sWH

— Wes Minder (@WesKCMO) February 9, 2018

KCMO City Council approves Ordinance 180055 which streamlines installing bike racks in the public right of way.https://t.co/uCvrOFANkv

— Wes Minder (@WesKCMO) February 8, 2018

The biggest one was this one.

KCMO City Council just approved Ordinance 180068 which completes funding package for 2018 short term rehab & environmental study needed for new 169 Buck O'Neil bridge@BeyondTheLoopKC https://t.co/fCklWeO0jh

— Wes Minder (@WesKCMO) February 8, 2018

What does that mean?  Well it means that work will begin this summer on a short term fix and the environmental document (I thought Trump was going to blow up these needless federal bureaucracies) for a new US 169 Buck O'Neil Bridge.  Watch this dude (who must have a lot of kids because he seems to have less and less hair every time I see him on TV) explain what this all means.  I also uploaded an audio for you podcast people.

Here are some local media stories.  I'll leave out the credit citation because they all have their logos in the video and I'm embedding from their YT sites.  Everything on this project is fluid.  I mean a year ago, we had nothing and now we've got a plan in place to fund a new bridge so things change and some of these stories are six+ months old but it will give you an idea of everything being discussed.

I also encourage you to check out and bookmark MoDOT's US 169 Buck O'Neil Bridge project webpage.  MoDOT KC staff have stepped up their game on a lot of things and have a ton of information to share about things they are working on. 

 

 

 

 

A New US 169 Buck O'Neil Bridge Is Now Up to the Voters

A lot has happened since my last US 169 Buck O'Neil Bridge post:  the governor of Missouri exhibited himself as a lying fool, KC voters overwhelmingly approved moving forward with a new airport, we had a healthy baby girl, the corporate tax rate was FINALLY reduced (which we end up paying for through higher costs for goods) from 35% to 21%, the Zona Rosa bond train wreck (first broke by Ivan Foley) continues to grow, etc so I figured it was time for a new one.

First off, regional leaders (I soooo want to make a comment about a regional leader that made this harder than it should have been) rallied together and decided to commit a total of $40M of federal surface transportation funds over the next four years towards the project.  MoDOT is to the point where they are willing to fund up to $100M towards a new bridge.  Keep in mind, just a year ago we had ZERO funding for a new bridge and now we've identified $140M.  Here is the news from the MARC Transportation Matters blog.

The last piece of the $200M financing package was put together with passage KCMO Ordinance 170919 which sets up an April 3, 2018 election which will ask KCMO voters to renew the City's current one cent capital improvements sales tax for 20 years.  This would provide up to $60M towards the Bridge.

I'm not sure what the numbers are and it's too late to call Rob Willard but the last time I looked at the numbers something like 80% of all Platte County sales taxes were generated in KCMO so the cost of the bridge will be borne by people from all over.  KCMO has the only Wal-Mart™, Target™, Costco™, etc with freeway access and a lot of folks come into town and shop.  We've also go the only Menards™.  This is also a renewal of a tax that has been in place since the 1980's and so there will be no change in what you pay in sales tax.

That may be a lot of local money for a bridge but there still is a chance that our federal elected officials might be able to help with additional federal funds.  Too bad Claire McCaskill and others don't believe in earmarks because this is a perfect earmark project.  If the federal government is going to continue to spend and spend and spend and bankrupt us, at least try to keep our money here by building stuff we can use rather than subsidizing subways in New York at $3.5 BILLION a mile.  Better idea, reduce the federal gas tax, raise state gas taxex, and eliminate the DC overhead.  Keep decisions and oversight/management local.

Now, if you want a new bridge, it's up to YOU to make it happen.

I created a Facebook event here that you can add to your calendar.  It will be a helpful reminder to vote since Park Hill won't be having a school board election this April because only two candidates filed for the two open seats.  I have to thank Matt Pepper for serving and congratulate Kyla Yamada for being the new holder of the "Yosemite Sam" seat.  I assume Platte County, NKC, and Liberty will have competitive school board races but those of us in Park Hill will need to remember to show up and vote. 

I uploaded the video from the KCMO Council committee discussing the renewal and details about financing options so you can make an informed choice when voting.

Again, if you want a new bridge, it's up to you.  Accept the Facebook event here and share with friends.  Also, reminder to check out the www.beyondtheloopkc.com website and take the survey on the concepts.

If you don't want to watch the video, you can download the podcast here. It's large size and I tried looking into some freeware for smaller podcasts but I decided life was too short and I had other things I'd rather do.  I quit while I was ahead unlike this guy.....

Clip credit to Fox from the Married With Children show.

Proposed Apartments and Self Storage at Green Hills and Old Tiffany Springs

MORE SELF STORAGE!!!  I'll save the pontification and refer you to my post about self-storage being zoned at the southeast corner of Green Hills and Barry Road.  A rezoning has been approved for the southwest corner of Green Hills and Old Tiffany Springs Road.

The proposed land use will be climate controlled storage with some four story and two story apartment buildings.

The site will sit above the existing houses in Tiffany Place and Autumn Ridge.  This is a cut section looking north with the existing single family houses on the left/west and Green Hills Road on the right/east.

The climate controlled storage building will look like this.  It appears that the facility facade on Green Hills and Old Tiffany Springs will be one story but the rear will be two story.

The two large, four story apartment buildings will look like this.

The two story apartment buildings abutting Tiffany Place and Autumn Ridge will look like this.

I don't know the specifics but you can go the the rezoning ordinance page and read the "staff report" in the attachments to get the details on number of units, size, etc.

One thing I don't understand about real estate valuation and property tax law is now that the property has been rezoned from agricultural to master planned development with commercial uses, will there be an increase in the tax base? 

The 90 or whatever acres across the street is zoned B3-3 which means that the following businesses uses are approved as noted with a "P" in the zoning table under B3.  If an "S" is shown, I think that means that use needs to be approved by a special use permit.

Looking at the Platte County GIS page, the 90 or whatever acres north of Menards^TM with commercial type zoning is assessed at $8,426.00 which means the County only collects next to nothing even though the KCI Corridor TIF just spent millions to improve Green Hills Road.

I pay more in taxes (I think because County doesn't collect for the Lake so I write two checks and I don't remember the amounts) on my vacant 6,000 square feet Lake Waukomis lot which is zoned residential.  Again, not sure how assessment law works but the way we use property taxes to fund local government and schools doesn't seem to make sense in this case when we know the value of 90 or whatever acres along an improved street with sewer, water, gas, and power is a heck of a lot more than a vacant residential lot. 

It really won't make sense once that 90 acres is turned into more parking lots and drive up retail if you open your way of thinking about "growth" and development.....

 

I-35 and Route 152 Proposed Improvements

I used to have an old rule.  The only acceptable reason to cross I-35 at 152 was to get to The Dish^TM and Culvers^TM.  Since we finally got a Culvers^TM in Platte County and The Dish^TM closed, I have amended that rule to only one rational reason to cross I-35 at 152 and that's on Tuesday nights to get to Chick Fil A^TM.  Anyways, a very creative cooperative funding package has been assembled and we are going to get some improvements.  While the improvements won't make it less painful because of the inane amount of commercial land use with limited access points, it will be a little more tolerable for me to go north on I-35.

Before we get into the details, I have to commend our local MoDOT public engagement staff for stepping up and using social media.  They have a bunch of drone photos of the area on their Flickr site. 

Now, back to the story.  The design team will have a public meeting tomorrow (Thursday 1/18/18) as noticed below:

I'll summarize the improvements.  Basically the interchange will be converted to a partial continuous flow intersection or CFI.  What is a CFI?  It's an intersection that consolidates signals as possible to remove left turns.  This dude at Dewberry^TM explains it.  It's one way to handle a buttload of cars.  That's its goal.  Crossing distances for bikes/peds still suck but left turn conflicts are reduced.  It's a way to compensate for land use planning stupidity and engineers who have accepted without critical thought the concept of "access management" and forced us to stoplights because they been brainwashed into thinking driveways and median cuts are evil.

I tried showing how the new left turns will work.  In our case at 152/35 (and since this is the only movement that matters because it's how us Platte Countians go north on I-35) rather than waiting at two traffic signals to make a northbound left turn, we will only need to travel through one signal which I showed with the darker blue lines.  Folks who are lost exiting south from I-35 and accidentally wind up going towards Liberty will follow the maroon line.  Folks that are going north on I-35 and are making the wise choice to go to KCMO to shop at the better retail choices will follow the yellow lines just like they do today.  Folks escaping Liberty to go south on I-35 will follow the light blue line just like they do today.

Improvements will be done on Kansas east of I-35 over to MO 291 and after the meeting, I'm sure MoDOT will post them to their project website here but since there's no reason to ever go that way, I'm not going to analyze them.   The interchange improvements will remove the northbound (dark blue) green left arrow timing from the signal on the east side which will allow better movement off the highway and across the corridor. 

The nice thing about MoDOT staff being proactive on the socials?  You don't have to attend a meeting with plain old paper boards.  You can preview how the improvements are going to work using their YouTube page.  Honestly, I think this is the best way to understand and visualize the new interchange.

Here are some samples of how the new interchange will look/feel.

The video below is how us Platte Countians will get to Iowa and Minnesota.

Lastly, this is how southward folks that are lost will wind up in Liberty.  They will no longer need to wait at the traffic signal but will be able to make a free yielding left turn off the ramp then wait at the signal on the east side of the highway.

Construction is supposed to start in 2019 and it will be a mess but there is no other way to replace an existing bridge.  Luckily improvements to MO 291/I-35 and the Flintlock Flyover are done to get around while this is underway.  Hopefully they'll be some TV and print media who will do a story with the details as the design progresses throughout the year.

Proposed Development at Barry Road and Green Hills

Seriously America.  Why do we spend over $24 BILLION a year on storing crap we don't need?  Anyways thanks to mass consumerism, self storage units aren't going away and so there is market demand for more.  A development proposal moving forward at the southeast corner of Barry Road and Green Hills which will have some fast food places, a small retail building, and more places to store the important things in your life.

Here is the site layout with Barry at the top and Green Hills to the left.

Here are some renderings of the small retail building in the upper right hand corner.

Here are some renderings on the storage building.

Meanwhile, I think Jerry Seinfeld sums up my view of today's mass consumerism.

Clip credit NBC.

Maplewoods (North Woodland) and Bike Plan Meetings Tomorrow Night

Well I'm back to one handed blogging so sorry for the last minute notice but there are two public meetings tonight you might be interested in.  First one deals with the update to the bike plan.  In case you are wondering what I am talking about, check out my previous post on the topic and check out the Bike KC update page and share with your friends.  The meeting is at Northland Cathedral at US 169 and Tiffany Springs Parkway. 

Click this link to add it to your evil big brother internet search company calendar.

The second is the design public hearing for improvements to North Woodland aka Maplewoods Parkway. 

It's been a little over a year since KCMO applied for federal funds to help with rebuilding the corridor and KCMO was successful in securing $6M which will be combined with the recently passed GO Bond package to rebuild the unimproved two lane road to Maplewoods Parkway from NE 96th Street to Shoal Creek Parkway.  Here's the official notice:

NOTICE OF PUBLIC

INFORMATION MEETING

ON THE

DESIGN OF WOODLAND AVENUE

COMPLETE STREETS PROJECT

(MAPLEWOODS PARKWAY)

Notice is hereby given to all interested persons that a public meeting will be held at the Staley High School, 2800 NE Shoal Creek Parkway, Kansas City, MO 64156, on Tuesday, October 17th, 2017 from 5 to 7 PM.  Handicap access is available.  This is an open house public meeting and residents can come as their schedule allows.  There will not be a formal presentation.

All interested persons will have an opportunity to be heard on their views of the proposed improvements with reference to socio-economic effects and its consistency with the community’s objectives.  The planned improvement is as follows:

The City of Kansas City, Missouri Parks and Recreation Department plans to reconstruct  N. Woodland Avenue from NE 96^th Street to NE 108^th Street, upgrading this section of roadway to current design Standards.  The improvements include roadway Realignment and Widening with a Median, Curb & Gutter, Sidewalks, multi-use Path, Bike Lanes, Lighting and Sewers.  Design and Right of Way plans will be available for viewing at the Meeting.  Tentative schedules for right-of-way acquisition and construction will be discussed at the Meeting.

roject plans and other detailed information prepared by the City are available for public inspection at the office of the Project Manager, Parks and Recreation Department, 4600 E. 63^rd Street, Kansas City, Missouri 64130.  Written and oral statements will be received at the Meeting.  These, as well as written statements received within ten days after the Meeting date, will be made part of the Public Meeting transcript.  Comments can also be sent via email at James.Wang@kcmo.org

If you are limited in mobility and require special services at the Meeting, please notify James Wang by October 10, 2017 at (816) 513-7622 to make arrangements.

City of Kansas City, Missouri

Parks and Recreation Department

By:  James Wang, Project Manager

If you can't make it, I'm sure someone on the socials or internet will get you a link to the material presented.  The meeting is an open house, come as you can meeting from 5-7 so no need to get there right at 5 nor get nervous standing at a podium asking questions like this guy.....

Clip credit to Carsey-Werner Productions from That 70's Show.

Another Phase of the Route 152 Trail Out to Bid

Today was one of those days where just a simple thing like getting a project out to bid completely makes putting up with all the government stupidity and frustration worth it.  I've blogged in the past about getting something to implementation in government can be pointless but it's all forgotten when work is ready to start. 

There is very little common sense in government workings nowadays.  Don't get me wrong there are well-intentioned folks who enjoy getting things done and being helpful but they also don't want to waver too far outside "the process" and get reprimanded or yelled at by the process trolls.  There are also folks who create all sorts of red tape for the sole purpose of guaranteeing a job rather than creating value or production.  What's fun to watch is how the process trolls react to the handful of us that can porcupine process back at them and work around all the inanity and do what needs to be done and avoid what is a complete waste of your money (see my Line Creek Trail thank you post before you condemn).

Anyways, after some last minute changes that I shall not mention because I've already got gnashing of teeth from the previous prose, the next phase of the Route 152 Trail is out to bid which will build a trail along the north side of Route 152 from I-29 west over to Amity.

The project has two separate federal grants (thanks process trolls, SERENITY NOW) so Segment 3 of the Trail starts on the west side of Amity and connects over to the short little existing trail near the apartments on the northwest corner of the 152/Congress interchange.  The new trail is illustrated by the white lines for the pavement edge and the light blue lines are metal/plastic pipes and the magenta line is a box culverts.

Near Amity, the trail is going to be built a little bit up the hill from the westbound Amity off ramp.  The centerline was field staked a while back so you might see where it will go but to give you an idea, this picture is looking west (towards Kansas) about halfway up the ramp.

This picture is roughly from the same point looking east towards Zona Rosa™.

Why is the trail here up the hill?  Well it would be nice to have a flat section of the trail versus going up and over that monstrous hill. 

Even though this trail will be along the highway, thanks to donations from Hawthorn Bank™ who donated the easements after a short phone call (so patronize them please because they are one of the top two banks I've dealt with regarding trails, Valley View™ being the other) and also a donation by Hunt Midwest the trail will meander away from the highway right of way into this small valley.  In the picture, I am looking east towards Zona and standing right north of where the exit ramp starts.

I had to finagle the design in this area because there is some rock which makes installing the concrete box culvert a little tricky but I also wanted to save the monstrous, white sycamore tree which has been there for a while and is really awesome up close and under its canopy.

Segment 4 of the trail goes from Congress over to Old Tiffany Springs Road near the eyesore high rise hotel and is shown in the general alignment of the blue line below.

Remember above when I told you how Hawthorn Bank was awesome to work with on Segment 3?  Well here I will spill the beans that Key Bank™ was difficult to work with and thanks to them, there will be a gap in the trail along Congress where folks will have to use the sidewalk or bike lanes because Key's got their own process trolls. 

What's even better about it?  Key Bank™ goes to all sorts of effort to promote themselves as an environmentally sustainable bank on their website.  Too bad their environmentally sustainable efforts include not giving a rat's behind about building a trail that will allow people to get to work, school, shopping, etc using a bike or by foot. I guess "going green" for them means going green for the green.

When the trail finally opens and something doesn't look right, you can thank Key Bank™ for being a complete excrement sandwich of a corporation (no wonder why people like old Bernie hate the banks).  I can add them to my list of companies like Curry Investment Company that have held up progress on building community amenities.

Once this phase of the 152 Trail is done, there will be a monstrous gap to get over I-29. 

Bike riders on Old Tiffany Springs Rd bridge over I-29. Like the margin for error with the low railing? pic.twitter.com/7kG5TrRI73

— Wes Minder (@WesKCMO) September 11, 2017

However, hopefully construction of a new bridge will start soon so we can safely get across as shown below. 

I had hoped this would be wrapping up about now so my oldest could bike to Park Hill and K2 could bike to Congress so I wouldn't have to chauffeur and deal with the hassle of I-29 interchange traffic signals but K1's going to be old enough to drive by the time it opens.

When the bridge gets done, we'll have a connection from Amity all the way over to US 169 and Costco™ and roughly 45-60k folks who will be within a mile of a trail system to get around for work or pleasure.  Something like that would be pretty attractive to an international company looking for a new corporate headquarters wouldn't it???

If I were you, I would also let the folks at MoDOT know how much you appreciate all of these connected trails.  A lot of them wouldn't be possible without their cooperation and permission to use their right of way.  You can let them know here or via Twitter. 

1940 Downtown and other Assorted Aerials

I had to do some plan scanning/production the other day in the map room at City Hall and while the scanner was taking its sweet time processing the scans, I sniffed around some old aerials and took some pictures.  I just posted them to Twitter so I'm being a little lazy by embedding them but you can explore them as you like.  I just find them interesting but I'm a map geek.  If I were to blog about them, I would dig into the first one, download it, and surf around.  I spy a Grand Avenue viaduct under construction to the river.

6th Street Trafficway before the #northloopkc destroyed everything
1940 pic.twitter.com/snpeFf7Ohu

— Wes Minder (@WesKCMO) August 24, 2017

North KC 1940
Big black blob is Wheeler Airport hidden because of WWII pic.twitter.com/ERXFjb9gRY

— Wes Minder (@WesKCMO) August 24, 2017

Westport, Coleman Highlands, Roanoke etc 1940 pic.twitter.com/758W3pSegy

— Wes Minder (@WesKCMO) August 24, 2017

Strawberry Hill before I-70 destroyed it pic.twitter.com/vcXTzPh5BP

— Wes Minder (@WesKCMO) August 24, 2017

Westside KC before SW freeway destroyed it
1940 pic.twitter.com/ZdxvFW3Jp5

— Wes Minder (@WesKCMO) August 24, 2017

Municipal Stadium 1940.
Also zoom into 18th and Vine to see how Paseo was stroaded pic.twitter.com/hBn8E6F0mW

— Wes Minder (@WesKCMO) August 24, 2017

I can't figure out where this is.
1940 aerial pic.twitter.com/t4yXg1DGm0

— Wes Minder (@WesKCMO) August 24, 2017

Hey look sprawl....aka Waldo pic.twitter.com/npnfvbHVEd

— Wes Minder (@WesKCMO) August 23, 2017

1963 aerial. The old building lines up with north side of livestock building pic.twitter.com/eQTantWzKv

— Wes Minder (@WesKCMO) March 31, 2017

I was trying to find that old building we saw by Kemper in this 1957 aerial @polycitywander pic.twitter.com/nR23VocDex

— Wes Minder (@WesKCMO) March 31, 2017

@jhwkcmo 1957 but more pic.twitter.com/vnUpL7BmNv

— Wes Minder (@WesKCMO) March 29, 2017

#ProgressKC
Urban renewal flashback#NorthLoop pic.twitter.com/Fdw4TjtojL

— Wes Minder (@WesKCMO) March 11, 2017

 Someone also has some more conversation and pictures about the North Loop I thought I would share.

Here's a slide I made for a presentation 6 years ago, and my essay on Squeezebox last year:https://t.co/bcO7L6tUcK pic.twitter.com/aNiNA2z9c2

— Nicolas Bock (@nicolasgbock) August 24, 2017