[to KC Public Works staff, about Coal Mine Road issue]
Today I started looking a little more carefully at the bicycle route maps on your website.
Today I happened to ride up on Manchester Trafficway and other points north along the Blue River, so I looked at that area more carefully on the bike route map. The first thing I have to say (again) is that the proposed routes in that area all make a lot of sense. For instance, I have ridden the Sni-a-bar to Blue-Parkway route many times (my wife worked in the area). The route is a bit frustrating right now because Blue Parkway is so unfriendly to bicycling . . . it's good to know that there is at least some hope that will change in the future.
Since I wrote previously about the construction project going on now on Coal Mine Rd (previous correspondence attached below, for your convenience), I examined that area on the Bike Route Map as well.
First, when I emailed before, I hadn't realized that Coal Mine Rd is a proposed bike route. This gives even a greater reason to "get Coal Mine Road right now" as long as the it is being re-built now--as opposed to building it "wrong" now and then going back in a few years to try to fix it . . .
Second, I happened to ride a short section of the Levee Rd. along the Blue River (near where it joins the Missouri). Of course my first thought was, "This is *already* a great 'Greenway'-type route--just add a few signs and a lot of it is already perfectly rideable. I wonder if it is on the Bike Route Plan?"
Sure enough, when I got home and checked the map, there it was. Great minds think alike!
I also noted that the proposed greenway trail follows the Blue River south past I-70 all the way to where the Blue River crosses Stadium Drive.
This brings up another interesting point that relates to the construction around Coal Mine Rd.: They have been extensively re-working the banks of the river and have them smoothed and landscaped pretty much all the way from Blue Pkwy to Stadium Drive.
With 99% of the work already done (area smoothed, access roads already in place, equipment in place), it seems as though it would be relatively easy and logical to make a greenway path along the Blue River from Stadium Dr. all the way to Blue Pkwy. This would be but a minor extension of the previous plan and could give the trail even better access and public visibility (via Blue Parkway). If *ever* such a path were going to be built in that area, it seems like now is the time to do it.
What about it? Is anything like this in the plans for the area? If not, could it be added now? At an absolute minimum, could preparations be made now so that finishing the route at a later time will be easy and inexpensive?
I really think the area will be very beautiful when finished. It could be considered a kind of a showcase for KC Public Works, because of the large Public Works facility on Coal Mine Rd., and for the city government as a whole, because of the large amount of land the city owns and the many public facilities in the area. Making Coal Mine Rd road bicycle & vehicle friendly and adding a greenway path along the river banks would only add to the general attractiveness of the area.
--Dr. Brent Hugh
Kansas City area motorist, bicyclist, taxpayer
posted by Brent Hugh at
Sunday, August 25, 2002 |
permanently archived here
