Property owners in downtown Parkville can breathe a sigh of relief with the adoption of the city’s design plan for its reconstruction of Highway 9 – the chosen plan spares all buildings from potential condemnation.
Aldermen discussed the plans at their Tuesday, July 1 meeting, covering the Complete Streets Improvement Project, Hwy. 9 from Fourth Street to Park College Drive and from South Crooked Road and Highway FF to the intersection with Hwy. 9.
The board approved, on a 7-1 vote, to move forward with “Concept B” and will move forward with George Butler Associates for engineering services at a cost of about $417,000. From there, the project will go through preliminary and final plan considerations and the bid process. Construction on the final design is expected to begin in 2027.
Some property owners, such as the South Platte Memorial Veterans of Foreign Wars Post No. 7356 voiced concerns about some versions of the plans, which called for the condemnation of the historic Power Plant building.
A representative of the Southern Platte Fire Protection District also spoke at the July 1 meeting, concerned about the roadway changes. Their concerns include the BNSF Railroad right-of-way and believe the measurements of the new roadway would leave the fire department with only about 25 feet to maneuver a 35 foot fire truck into Station One. That organization’s board of directors voted on a resolution to oppose the current plans.
With Concept B, no existing buildings will be impacted, but the construction project itself will be larger and more expensive. It will also change the feel of the existing “triangle” area and new construction of a connector street will require acquisition of private parking and green space. It maintains two pedestrian crossings and provides significant safety improvements for pedestrians on Main Street and East Street. It will provide for new flexibility to use streets for festivals and events without disruption to through traffic.
In January 2016, the board adopted the Hwy 9 Corridor Study, according to a staff report. The study contains preliminary engineering designs for multimodal improvements at twelve project segments along Hwy. 9 from Highway 45 to Mattox Road in Riverside. To-date, the City has successfully completed Complete Streets improvements from Hwy. 45 to Lakeview Drive and from Sixth Street to Fourth Street.
In July 2022, the board approved an application to the Mid-America Regional Council (MARC) for federal funding to help fund transportation improvements along Hwy. 9 in the new project area. In February 2023, the city received its official award of $3.2 million in Surface Transportation Block Grant
federal funding. The city received a separate award of more than $1.7 million in state funding from the Missouri Department of Transportation’s (MoDOT) Governor’s Transportation Cost
Share Program. In September 2024, the board approved a cooperative agreement with Platte County allowing the city to receive $500,000 in funding for engineering and design services.
Since the project officially commenced in June 2024, the city has held three public open house meetings — the first on December 9, 2024; the second on March 10 and the third on June 9. Through the first open house meeting and with input via online engagement, the consultant team established the following project goals: To provide an enhanced pedestrian-friendly environment; ti support downtown economic development and community events; and to improve traffic flow to/through downtown Parkville.
Using this feedback from members of the public and the steering committee, George Butler Associates (GBA) and Confluence developed six conceptual design options which were formally presented to the public at the second open house meeting. Since that time, the consultant evaluated the feedback provided and narrowed down the six design concepts to two design concepts (A and B). These options were presented to the project’s steering committee on June 4, to the public on June 9 and to the Parkville Old Towne Market Community Improvement District on June 11 for feedback.
The consultant team presented the two design concept options to the Board of Aldermen at a work session held on June 17 and the matter went before the board for final approval July 1.