KCRag Forum

On my Saturday afternoon jaunt through Johnson County today, when at a traffic light in Fairway I noticed yard signs detesting and lamenting some proposed highway overpass or bridge or something proposed for the area. The signs said something about "No to the Fairway bridge" or something along those lines paraphrased.

Anyone know what's going on?

Can you still walk under highway 50/Johnson Drive/SM Parkway in the Pedestrian Tunnel just west of Belinder? It was great for shooting off firecrackers.

bbqboy wrote: Can you still walk under highway 50/Johnson Drive/SM Parkway in the Pedestrian Tunnel just west of Belinder? It was great for shooting off firecrackers.

Yes.

Tosspot wrote: On my Saturday afternoon jaunt through Johnson County today, when at a traffic light in Fairway I noticed yard signs detesting and lamenting some proposed highway overpass or bridge or something proposed for the area. The signs said something about "No to the Fairway bridge" or something along those lines paraphrased.

Anyone know what's going on?

This is the Mission Road bridge, just south of SMP, that's due to be replaced later this year or early next, in order to alleviate flooding. There's a number on the signs that you can call for more info. I haven't yet, but I suspect that someone wants more than just a ho-hum highway bridge.

I live very close to this in Fairway so here is the scoop as I have heard it:

The bridge on Mission Road is indeed being replaced; the plan is to make the bridge much larger and to destroy five houses in the area.  The reason the proposed bridge is so large is that the city decided to apply for federal funds and thus the project must be very big to qualify.  The bridge is to be 150' long, or about equal to one of the bridges crossing the un-spruced up parts of Brush Creek.  It would also be raised off the ground considerably more than the current bridge. 

Not sure if this is really going to happen or not.  My information is coming from a flyer that we got yesterday from some concerned neighboorhood group - it was not very clear so this is all I know.  According to the flyer, the current bridge has only been under water twice in the last 30 years.  Building a much fancier bridge and fooling with the creek seems a little unnecessary. 

On another note, I don't know what is up with Fairway's government.  We were supposed to bury our power lines on 63rd Street East of Mission along with Mission Hills, but for some reason Fairway backed out and our power lines are still up in the air.  There has also been a lot of turmoil surrounding the new City Hall building, which has gone through countless revisions so far and no decisions have been made.  As for the bridge... seems like a terrible idea to me.  Tearing down five houses right there would be sacrilege. 

Funny, so Fairway wants to tear down houses for both its fancy new City Hall AND its fancy new bridge. 

Yea, but what do they do with this new city hall after they merge with Mission and Roeland Park?

GRID wrote: Yea, but what do they do with this new city hall after they merge with Mission and Roeland Park?

When is that scheduled to take place? 

Tosspot wrote: When is that scheduled to take place? 

I haven't heard anything about that.

why would you want to merge all the NE JoCo towns?
It's lends character and a subtle tension to have them all in a rugby scrum.
Those 3 towns didn't get along when I was growing up, and I doubt things are any better now.
Throw Westwood and Westwood Hills in there too.

I'm sure GRID was talking in jest.

Tosspot wrote: When is that scheduled to take place? 

This idea has been kicking around for years but never has gone beyond the what-if stage. It resurfaced a few months ago -- and was covered in Mike Hendricks' column -- because of the Fairway city hall proposal, which had some people wondering why such a small city needed such a big city hall.

Tosspot wrote: I'm sure GRID was talking in jest.

Yea, I wast just teasing because the idea has been kicked around for decades, I know it has almost no chance of happening though.

More details about the bridge: http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascit ... 173331.htm

Doesn't really sound like a "highway". I had this image of an overpass going over Fairway or something.

KCMax wrote: Doesn't really sound like a "highway". I had this image of an overpass going over Fairway or something.

Going from a 50' to a 150' bridge at the location is quite a bump.

I personally think it's rather ridiculous...I like the bridge like it is and don't see how this thing fits in.  Plus it screws up my bike route.

I went past the bridge today, and someone put up a series of strings to illustrate the proposed height and length. The height surprised me more than the length. I was driving by rather than walking, but it looked about six feet higher than the current road.

Ridiculous.  This would force me to change my bike route as well.  They worked on that bridge for about a month last summer.  Every time I passed I wondered what exactly they were doing.

I saw it today. I can't believe the federal government is helping to build a bridge there, the current bridge looks tiny. When I think federal projects, I think large bridges going over major rivers, not dinky roads going over a stream.

The bridge as it is today and the streamers showing the height and length of the new bridge.