KCRag Forum

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From the June 29th meeting. I kept forgetting to post

Thanks for posting.

I'm surprised at people's optimism with adding trash cans. The city doesn't do a great job maintaining the ones they already have.

freedog wrote: ↑Wed Jul 06, 2022 4:50 pm online survey is now available through July 20:

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Don't forget to take the survey!

All those comments and not a one mentioned disconnecting those ramps to NB 35?!?

Thanks for reminding me TLG, been meaning to post the pictures I took as well. I think you captured most of it. Think it's very interesting how the One Park Place people don't consider themselves part of a neighborhood. Hopefully something is done to incorporate them into a city identity at some point.



@ Hugo One soul mentioned closing the I 35 ramps and a few touched on traffic calming. But you can read what most were hoping for:

Meeting at 5:00 p.m. in the little theater barn Off Broadway about plans for the west side of PVP seeking public input.

Open house for PVP tonight, my friend got these pictures of the boards there. Biggest takeaways is the ideas are incredibly unimaginative, the bike lane through a roundabout is 100% going to get people killed, and none of the things that could be done to make this park actually enjoyable or even more patronized are being done. A real let down of a project.

Where to find info about these open houses? Follow someone specific on Twitter? God, PVP is the biggest missed opportunities in KC. I would love to see changes but I don't think anything short of eliminating the Broadway connection to I35 can even begin to solve anything. I take my dog to the dog park once or twice a week, (by car). The park is just inaccessible, surrounded by pedestrian hostile streets on practically every side. Once inside it is chopped up by further unsafe streets. The topography could, with imagination and investment, be made into an asset. As it stands it is just another liability. Woof, the problems at PVP just seem intractable at this stage.

Hmm I went to the first one. There was a lot of talk about activating the park and creating a better overlook. A destination for those that want to view the skyline and take photos. Disappointed to not see that here. Then again, there was also a lot of talk about not having corporate help in maintaining the park so maybe it’s a money thing.

As for the bike lane, do you mean the roundabout on the cutover from Penn drive to Wyandotte? I barely ever see cars on that street.

Totally agree that the fix probably is removing the I35 connection. My dream (which was in some plan linked on here a while ago) is that those connections are removed and that land is turned into apartments. Cool spot by the lake I never see anyone visit and future Pennway Point…

Even with warning strips on Broadway the idea of a HAWK crosswalk laughable and still going to end up with a huge problem.

kcjak wrote: ↑Fri Oct 14, 2022 7:13 am Even with warning strips on Broadway the idea of a HAWK crosswalk laughable and still going to end up with a huge problem.

The strips they have now do nothing. I barely notice they are there

FlippantCitizen wrote: ↑Thu Oct 13, 2022 11:57 pm Where to find info about these open houses? Follow someone specific on Twitter? God, PVP is the biggest missed opportunities in KC. I would love to see changes but I don't think anything short of eliminating the Broadway connection to I35 can even begin to solve anything. I take my dog to the dog park once or twice a week, (by car). The park is just inaccessible, surrounded by pedestrian hostile streets on practically every side. Once inside it is chopped up by further unsafe streets. The topography could, with imagination and investment, be made into an asset. As it stands it is just another liability. Woof, the problems at PVP just seem intractable at this stage.

Totally agree here. Biggest ongoing missed opportunity in KC. I mean, we have a large central park that splits the difference between downtown and midtown, with interesting topography and world class skyline views, containing a top regional asset, and adjacent to the upcoming streetcar line, and it just continues to sadly languish without any real investment.

I do think Broadway needs to be closed completely, or heavily road dieted and I-35 connection dropped (at a minimum), for the city to begin seeing PVP as a a real park again and not a tree-lined freeway on ramp.

Would love for this to be a major regional priority, but it seems clear at this point that it won't be for the foreseeable future, for whatever reason. I'd prefer to see big ideas and $$$ spent here over south loop cap, streetcar extensions (after UMKC), etc.

It's also not a huge park, comparatively. Only ~130 acres, so it's not like rehabilitating Central Park or anything.

I think archaic park rules really hurt the park (and other parks). It eliminates public/private partnerships. People are talking about a restaurant for the DT loop park. That could never happen at Penn Valley without a ballot vote. No residential on park land, even if it’s in the best interest of the park itself. Etc.

Cratedigger wrote: ↑Fri Oct 14, 2022 6:40 am Totally agree that the fix probably is removing the I35 connection. My dream (which was in some plan linked on here a while ago) is that those connections are removed and that land is turned into apartments. Cool spot by the lake I never see anyone visit and future Pennway Point…

That is indeed the one of the keys to improving the west side of the park. The approach to I-35 takes up a lot of space that would be better suited for apartments which would provide one of the only residential areas that would be contiguous with the park.

Unfortunately, Broadway does carry quite a bit of traffic. One way to ease the burden on drivers affected by the proposed (by KCrag members) changes to Broadway and the elimination of the I-35 ramp would be to enlarge and modernize the existing intersection of 31st and SW Trafficway. Make it a proper intersection with right and left hand turning lanes off westbound 31st so I-35 bound traffic doesn't need Broadway. There's room to do that. It would cost a small amount of Park Place's corner but I think that needs to be done before anything happens to Broadway. Otherwise, there would be too much opposition.

Highlander wrote: ↑Fri Oct 14, 2022 2:44 pm That is indeed the one of the keys to improving the west side of the park. The approach to I-35 takes up a lot of space that would be better suited for apartments which would provide one of the only residential areas that would be contiguous with the park.

Unfortunately, Broadway does carry quite a bit of traffic. One way to ease the burden on drivers affected by the proposed (by KCrag members) changes to Broadway and the elimination of the I-35 ramp would be to enlarge and modernize the existing intersection of 31st and SW Trafficway. Make it a proper intersection with right and left hand turning lanes off westbound 31st so I-35 bound traffic doesn't need Broadway. There's room to do that. It would cost a small amount of Park Place's corner but I think that needs to be done before anything happens to Broadway. Otherwise, there would be too much opposition.

Totally. The Broadway connection is rendered redundant by SW Trafficway but that intersection with 31st would need a big rework. Indeed all of the Trafficway needs a big rework. I wish it wasn't a car sewer but if there has to be a car sewer runoff to I35 could we at least have the decency to consolidate it to one street instead of having Broadway as a car sewer to I35 as well.

Most interesting idea I heard at the meeting was to raise the dam for the pond to flood the Broadway road through the park making the pond much bigger. Seems a bit drastic, but a large lake in that area would bring paddle boards and canoes and peddle boats, perhaps a lake beach.

beautyfromashes wrote: ↑Mon Oct 17, 2022 2:45 pm Most interesting idea I heard at the meeting was to raise the dam for the pond to flood the Broadway road through the park making the pond much bigger. Seems a bit drastic, but a large lake in that area would bring paddle boards and canoes and peddle boats, perhaps a lake beach.

Oh HELL yes. Haha I love this

Paddle boarding with that skyline view would be an instant attraction

I've never understood why they've never created a dam and a second lake south of the current lake. Or two, smaller lakes with cascading waterfalls between them before they reach the north lake.

https://www.google.com/maps/@39.0788163 ... a=!3m1!1e3