Prairie Village to enhance 75th Street
Prairie Village, KS is planning for improving and enhancing 75th Street. One of the things that residents are asking for is a better environment for pedestrians, including slowing traffic and adding space the between sidewalks and the street.
Prairie Village listens to ideas for 75th Street
By JENNIFER BHARGAVA
The Kansas City Star
Residents are the driving force behind planning for a new and improved 75th Street in Prairie Village.
So the city is looking for their suggestions on how to beautify and enhance the corridor.
The process for getting their input began Tuesday evening with the city’s first public meeting on improvements for the corridor. More than 80 residents showed up for the meeting, which was conducted by HNTB, the contractor for development of the 75th Street plan.
“Our overall goal is to make 75th Street viable for the future,” said Brian Comer, the senior planner for HNTB. “Beautification is one of our main elements because we want people to drive through Prairie Village and not get it confused with Overland Park or Kansas City.”
After a brief introduction, residents were placed into groups where they collaborated with one another about their concerns about and hopes for 75th Street’s future.
They looked at five major aspects — land use, transportation, pedestrian connectivity, visual enhancement and overall vision.
Dale Warman, a member of the 75th Street Steering Committee, visited each table during the one-hour collaboration session and was pleased to hear similar issues addressed at each group.
Several residents wished to see more green space between the sidewalk and the busy street. Others wanted mass transit. Many requested codes enforcement on rental homes along the street.
The process reminded Warman of why the city is beautifying 75th Street — residents had expressed interest. While the city was getting input for Village Vision, its comprehensive plan, it asked residents to name the places in Prairie Village that needed improvement. A majority of residents named 75th Street.
“It’s great that people are thinking similarly because that makes it easier for us,” said Warman. “And, of course, there are some issues where they don’t agree, but they are willing to meet halfway. As a city, we want a solution, and working together is what it’s all about.”
Eric Collins, who lives on the corner of 75th Street and Lamar Avenue, said traffic was the biggest concern for him.
“The traffic on 75th Street is terrible — people run the stoplight near my house all the time,” Collins said. “Trucks are going 40 to 45 miles per hour at night, and it makes my house shake. It’s like living by railroad tracks.”
He also hopes cleaning up the street will be a part of the city’s beautification plan.
He’s tired of picking up soda cans and fast-food wrappers from his lawn and the sidewalk.
His ideas — along with those of his neighbors — will be compiled by HNTB in the next month. Planners will determine the most common concerns and ideas and hold another public meeting, in June, to look at alternative ways of implementing improvements.
“We’ve heard a lot of the same types of things from each table,” Comer said. “There is a lot of excitement about visual enhancement, neighborhood preservation, and making the street more pedestrian friendly.”
He also hopes residents will help prioritize each issue and create a timeline. He wants them to help decide which ideas should be implemented in a few years and which should be implemented in 20 to 30 years from now.
Near the end of the meeting, residents gathered with their neighbors and discussed their thoughts on the process.
“Obviously this is a work in progress, and I think it’s exciting that citizens are giving input and ideas, whether I agree with it or not,” said Barbara Brown, of Prairie Village. “We live in a nice city, and hopefully more people will go to these meetings.”