Falls at Crackernack Creek update

[greentara]

Yea, KC Scout can't even see the nightly traffic jams that occur right outside the KC Scout / MoDot HQ at 470 and Colbern.

Hahahaha. Classic!

[GRID]

Spectacular. That will help the congestion issue just loads. Are they going to add access to 291 from NB 470, or will they keep that retarded dogleg from Douglas?

Yes the new interchanges, Strother, Pryor and Blue Parkway all have absolutely massive developments lined up and waiting for those interchanges.  Should help the 4 lane beltway quite a bit!  They will add axillary lanes between Colbern and Wood Chapel, but I'm not sure if it will help that death trap when you round the EB to NB corner of 470 and have two busy on ramps one right after another.

Again, that area gets MASSIVE traffic jams that are all but ignored by the traffic reporters etc, I guess because it's not in the KC Scout system yet.

[greentara]

Is Lee's Summit high? I can't believe that they (LS P&D) wouldn't look at that layout and just throw up thinking of the body count. Guess they're too busy sweating out Legoland and building McMansion subdivisions.

[GRID]

Well, compared to Blue Springs and Indep, LS pretty much has their act together.  They have nice four lane streets everywhere.  470 is a MoDot issue and MoDot will not be deal with issues like this till traffic and fatalities make it a priority.  This isn't st louis.

So, LS will eventiall force MoDot to widen 470. They are not going to sit back and not grow just because MoDot doesn't want to improve 470.

[greentara]

Well, compared to Blue Springs and Indep, LS pretty much has their act together.

I agree, though Independence is doing better than poor sad BS, (my home town).

So, LS will eventiall force MoDot to widen 470. They are not going to sit back and not grow just because MoDot doesn't want to improve 470.

They'll have to. Just surprised that they haven't done it yet. Wait, why am I surprised that it will take twenty years to get a govt agency off its ass? Bureaucracy kills.

[ddw334umkc]

Density along the corridor possibly could be an issue in terms of traffic engineering.  There is a lot of undeveloped area along the 470 corridor, especially to the east, and my guess is that MoDot won't upgrade until there's some more density along this area.  Lee Summit/Blue Springs is growing at an alarming rate, and it won't be long before the area parallel to 470 experiences growth.  But until then, we just have to grin and bear the rush hour traffic and two lane death stretch where tailgating is not advised.

I especially love that dirt patch on 470 just north of Colbern which is used for illegal u-turns during traffic jams.

[GRID]

I drive by this daily and I'm wondering if anything else is going to go up beside bass pro.  I thought the city required the devleoper to have so much retail lined up before they could do the tif thing.

[cpt4599]

I drive by this daily and I'm wondering if anything else is going to go up beside bass pro.  I thought the city required the devleoper to have so much retail lined up before they could do the tif thing.

I was wondering the same thing.  Who is the developer of this project anyways?

[CookieMan]

Here's a link to a web cam showing the progress of the Bass Pro building construction:
http://bassproindependence.selfip.com/i ... height=446

You may be asked to download an 'activex' software.

[GRID]

I was wondering the same thing.  Who is the developer of this project anyways?

I think that's half the problem, just a local guy.  They need somebody like RED to market the development, otherwise, I don't see anything additional coming.

[KCBoom]

I was curious about the progress of this development as well and noticed that all of the renderings show a 6-story hotel attached to and wrapped around 3 sides of the actual store.  What I see being constructed doesn't look like that whatsoever.  I sent an email to their local manager and received the following response:

"Thanks for your interest in Bass Pro Shops.  The new location in Independence will have a hotel built next to it sometime in the future. 

Make plans to visit our store in November when we open.  We look forward to serving the surrounding communities.

Todd McGuire
General Manager
Bass Pro Shops - Independence
jtmcguire@basspro.com"

[maec55]

Originally, there were plans to build the bass pro and the hotel would be incorporated on top. But the way the TIF worked out with the city it just was not feasible.

If I understand it correctly - and I may very well not - the city will own the building. Bass Pro will only be leasing the property. To make both the hotel and Bass Pro work they had to separate the two on to separate pieces of land.

I had also heard a rumor that the retail surrounding it might be scaled back. Any word on that? Do they have the road completed that will connect Lee's Summit. They closed the closest recycling center in South IndepMo so they could put that road in.

[GRID]

If all the city got out of this was a bass pro and two years of moving dirt and rock around, then the city should give the super tiff money back to the state.

The city and state should be requiring the developer to have that hotel up within a year of the bass pro and enforce the original plan of having 400,000 sq ft of retail up in the first phase.

I don't think they have signed a single tenant out there yet and if the hotel is to be built in the "future", that is 5 years to never.

[cpt4599]

I don't understand why they just don't hire a developer to market the additional retail.  It can only help the project.

[CookieMan]

Do they have the road completed that will connect Lee's Summit.

Not yet. They are still working on building the two bridges crossing Adair Creek.

[kard]

Anyone else think it's ironic that a store that caters to outdoor sports destroyed lots of forest / environment?

[maec55]

Not yet. They are still working on building the two bridges crossing Adair Creek.

That Lee's Summit/Bass Pro intersection is going to be a mess. You are going to have people speeding up and down that hill and then people leaving bass pro AND - in the summer - the traffic from the softball fields. Not to mention whatever home development goes in at the old MoKan Camp site.

Lee's Summit is not the three lane parkway that Santa Fe is on Olathe - it will be interesting to see what the city does to the intersection at 40 highway.

[mtxmatt]

The old MoKan site is being looked by Bass Pro/ Independence as a possible TroutLodge resort cabin site. I know the city wants the land. But the price is way way high.

The loss of wildlife is tremendous. It will be more so once the big box sites start filling in. They'll start filling the lake mid august. I'll be documenting the progress.

[StL_Dan]

That Lee's Summit/Bass Pro intersection is going to be a mess. You are going to have people speeding up and down that hill and then people leaving bass pro AND - in the summer - the traffic from the softball fields. Not to mention whatever home development goes in at the old MoKan Camp site.

Lee's Summit is not the three lane parkway that Santa Fe is on Olathe - it will be interesting to see what the city does to the intersection at 40 highway.

A couple of things in response - The Olathe Bass Pro Shop is not on Santa Fe.  It's on Kansas City Road just south of 119th Street.

Secondly, Hwy 40 has already been widened with new turn lanes west of 291 in front of the entrance to the complex.  That part of Hwy 40 is no longer "divided highway".  An extension of the east bound turn lane onto 291 Southbound has been extended up the hill nearly to The Cliffs  business/residential entrance.

Additionally, another merge lane from the complex heading west up the hill on Hwy 40 has already been prepped for concrete to be poured.  I'm sure that concrete would have been scheduled had it not been for the incessant rains since last Thursday.

[maec55]

A couple of things in response - The Olathe Bass Pro Shop is not on Santa Fe.  It's on Kansas City Road just south of 119th Street.

Secondly, Hwy 40 has already been widened with new turn lanes west of 291 in front of the entrance to the complex.  That part of Hwy 40 is no longer "divided highway".  An extension of the east bound turn lane onto 291 Southbound has been extended up the hill nearly to The Cliffs  business/residential entrance.

Additionally, another merge lane from the complex heading west up the hill on Hwy 40 has already been prepped for concrete to be poured.  I'm sure that concrete would have been scheduled had it not been for the incessant rains since last Thursday.

I'v seen the construction on 40 hwy. But the Bass Pro is also planning - I thought - a second entrance on Lee's Summit Road. Are they expanidng Lee's Summity too? I'd be afriad for drivers without turn lanes there.

Essentially making the I-70 Lee's Summit on/off ramp the second major connection from the highway to the Bass Pro. Lee's Summit has always been crazy for as long as I can remember growing up. Not to mention a great place for the cops to sit and catch speeders flying down the hill from 40 highway.