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Cleaver II Blvd. Redesign Upate: July, 2024 By Jim Wanser.
Bike Lanes/Traffic Calming Troost Ave. to Oak Street.
The Cleaver II Committee comprises Nancy Abraham, Karen Moninger, Rick Crawford and me. Our committee has been working with Bailey Waters from the City Public Works department. Ms. Waters initially indicated work on the Cleaver II project would start in June, but a delay in assembling estimates has pushed the project to late July or early August. She will notify us when the schedule is more specific.
The project area extends from Troost Avenue to Oak Street. It will not complete the connection of the Gillham bike lanes to the Trolley Trail. That will require an additional segment to the project. The design has remained consistent with what I shared in the Spring newsletter, i.e., a multimodal bike lane on each side of the street, one lane of traffic in each direction, and a center turn lane. For the section affecting our neighborhood (Troost to Rockhill Road), two pedestrian activated crosswalks will be installed with a flashing yellow light on a small island in the center turn lane. Two additional crosswalks are planned between the Nelson Atkins and Theis Park. In addition to the crosswalks, a left turn signal will be added for those going east on Cleaver II and turning north onto Rockhill Road.
We have worked with Ms. Waters to provide noise level readings for traffic on Cleaver II, as well as feedback on the proposed bollards to be used. The proposed bollards are basically a black version of the white ones used in similar projects around the city, but there will be fewer of them, with a bollard at the ends of each segment of the protective barrier for the multimodal bike lanes. There will still be lots of bollards as the protective curbing will start and stop for each street and driveway. We asked for a more historic look, sending examples of those that were more consistent with the historic character of the neighborhood; however, the suggestion was rebuffed citing the need for City crews to provide maintenance of the bollards.
Based on what we have learned, the committee thinks that the Cleaver II Project will result in a significantly safer street for everyone.
Rockhill’s Unsung Heroes: By Gerald Carlson
In the last issue of the Times, I presented a brief description of the many battles that our neighborhood has fought against outside forces during the last seventy years. Most of the residents involved in winning those battles were well-known and appreciated at the time – in fact, many are still among us. These residents often had power in the city, knew powerful people, and knew how to get things done – they were the known heroes who were sung about, and for good reason. They made Rockhill a better place for all of us to live. Another group of less visible residents is also invaluable, however, in making our neighborhood a great place to live. These are the unsung heroes, residents who quietly, often privately and independently, go about setting straight what they perceive to be awry. These are the heroes whom I would like to fete in this column.
I salute our residents who routinely pick up litter along our streets during their daily walks. One resident even considers it his responsibility to routinely de-litter Theis Park. In fact, this same resident privately purchased and installed attractive litter containers on Rockhill Terrace and in our pocket park; and, he empties them as necessary. This frequent de-littering may become even more valuable following installation of bike paths on Cleaver, as city cleanup equipment does not readily deal with the barriers usually associated with bike paths. Distinct from removing litter, other residents quietly and without fanfare, shovel snow from the sidewalks of their less able neighbors, making life not just easier for those neighbors, but for all of us using those sidewalks.
A significant number of neighbors have remained involved in maintaining The Narrows and our Pocket Park. The chores they perform are those that we all routinely perform in our own yards: weeding, mulching, pruning, edging, and picking up branches. Although this volunteer work is now under the aegis of our Homes and Gardens Club, it has been performed routinely by volunteers since well before Susan and I moved here in 1997. For a very long time, RHA volunteers have worked to make our entire neighborhood more attractive, not just their own homes.
There are also many Rockhill neighbors who call 311 on their own when they note something amiss, such as a load of trash dumped beside Rockhill Terrace, a large broken limb partially blocking a street, an abandoned auto, a large chuckhole, etc. – things that detract from our neighborhood.
Although members of the RHA Board of Directors are expected to serve on committees, there are also residents from outside the Board who periodically volunteer to serve on RHA committees, allowing RHA to function more smoothly. Moreover, unrelated to Board activities, volunteers have stepped up on their own to organize activities to foster interactions among our neighbors, such as the monthly potluck dinners after the tennis club closed and the current periodic coffee club gatherings to bring us closer together.
Galen Mussman recently sent me a quote from an interview with Phil Levine on the importance of picking your neighborhood. Levine said: “Most neighborhoods in your city you might never step foot in. They might as well be in the other side of the country. But the things in your immediate vicinity are the things that are going to dominate your life. So picking and influencing your neighborhood is really important....the neighborhood determines quite a bit about our life and our happiness." I wouldn’t deign to guess the motivation of all our unsung heroes who make Rockhill a better place to live, but they do just that in our small, but wonderful, piece of Kansas City.
Update on the Jan. 4th Bike Path Meeting. By Gerald Carlson
In my December 23 email to you I informed you that the city was hosting a meeting at the Kauffman Foundation on January 4 ostensibly to gain additional information from us on the Gillham Track and Trolley Track Trail Connector project. The hosts of the meeting were Bailey Waters, Chief Mobility Officer at KCMO, and Jason Waldron, Transportation Director. In a very short introduction, Ms. Waters gave the background of the project from the city’s perspective and showed a street map indicating which streets were to be discussed, excluding Harrison. As you may recall, that single block of Harrison connects the end of the Gillham trail to Cleaver Blvd., the route that our neighborhood supports. When audience hands were raised to ask questions, Mr. Waldron indicated that no questions would be taken.
This comment elicited questions and comments from the audience that were largely ignored. The formal part of the meeting then ended, and the remainder of the meeting was essentially a redux of the first meeting on September 8 at the Nelson-Atkins Museum during which alternative options for a connector were presented on separate poster boards manned by city workers who tried to explain them. Although some options to modify Cleaver were presented, they were in addition to finishing the connector path on Gillham West – Rockhill Road and included such things as added concrete curbs or low concrete walls on Cleaver. As with the September 8 meeting, no attempt was made, except for asking for respondents’ zip codes on a short, vague questionnaire, to distinguish among Rockhill residents, bicyclists and the general public, despite City Ordinance 230613 mandating that “collaboration with and support from neighborhood associations is a critical step prior to the installation” of bike lanes.
The Rockhill Homes Association, including its Board, was well-represented at this meeting and our residents spoke with many of the presenters to gain additional information. The Board met on January 9 and discussed their conclusions from the meeting. To summarize their consensus, they are frustrated that the city remains adamant on continuing the Gillham West – Rockhill Road connector without public explanation or justification; that the process for installing bike lanes approved by the city has not been followed at all in this case; and that the overwhelming petitioned desires of the only residential neighborhood between the two bike paths to be connected continue to be totally ignored without public explanation or justification. The Board decided to continue working to achieve the original goals of the Rockhill Homes Association related to this project, namely to remove the lines already painted for the Gillham West – Rockhill Road connector and to combine traffic-calming measures with a bike path on Emanuel Cleaver II Boulevard, probably connected via Harrison to the Gillham Track. Our position is detailed fully in the following article by Jim Wanser entitled “Our Position Remains the Same.”
Officials to Contact to Advocate for Our position.
Michael Shaw, Public Works Director KCMO
Eric Rogers, Executive Director BikeWalkKC
Michael Kelley, Policy Director BikeWalkKC
Our Position Remains the Same. By Jim Wanser.
Bike Lanes/Traffic Calming form Gillham-Harrison to Trolley Trail
The project has been planned and budgeted by Public Works.
- Bike lanes on Cleaver Blvd. should be protected and safe versus unprotected.
- Both bike lanes on one side of the street versus two sides. Less stuff: bollards, cement blocks, signage. More affordable for City and easier to maintian.
- Bike lanes on the north side of the street. The safest route off of and onto Harrison. Bikes don't need to cross Cleaver at Harrison. They will go to an interesection. Fewer houses on the north side and those homes are elevated. Parking is needed on the south side.
- Parking lanes on the south side of Cleaver that is designated with concrete bump outs.
Rockhill Road to Trolley Trail
- Follow the same pattern between Rockhill Road and Oak Street with bike lanes on the north and parking on the south of Cleaver Blvd. including along Theis Park.
- Do not use Rockhill Road to take the bike lanes south to Volker and then on to the Trolley Trail.
- Recommended Oak Street south to 51th or 55th and then west to Trolley Trail.