PARKVILLE, Mo. — The future of the Highway 9 corridor will entirely depend on the funding available, according to the report approved by the Parkville Board of Aldermen last week. The development team presented the final recommendations of the months-long corridor planning process at the Jan. 5 board meeting. Aldermen later voted to accept those recommendations and begin the process of seeking grant funding to rebuild portions of the highway.
Project lead Sabin Yanez of CFS Engineers, the firm hired last year to work on the project, presented the project total of $13.1 million, including $2.1 million in engineering services and construction administration. He said the project, in total, could take 20-plus years at the current funding levels available in the city, but if fully funded construction could be completed in five years.
The plan is a joint venture between Mid-America Regional Council (MARC) as part of its Planning Sustainable Places program, and Parkville, Riverside, Platte County, Park University and the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT).
The study created a preliminary conceptual design and cost estimates for better positioning in future grant requests by dividing the corridor into a dozen project sections. The two highest-priority sections — from Northwest 62nd Street to Lakeview Drive at about $2.4 million — will be submitted to MARC during its 2016 call for projects.
MARC’s grant programs cover 80 percent of project costs.
Yanez recommended leveraging the projects two at a time and seeking multiple partnerships with the county or other districts to cover the 20 percent contribution.
However, that is just the short-term funding solution. Yanez suggested the board consider bringing a city-wide sales tax to the voters. A one-half cent sales tax would create $459,000-$519,000 in revenue for capital improvement projects per year, according to CFS calculations.
A dedicated capital improvement or economic development sales tax of up to 1 percent could fund most of the project in a timely fashion.
“The city should judge the political will to move forward with a tax measure,” Yanez said.
Creation of a new special taxing district in areas along the corridor not already in a special district could also be considered. Such a district could enable project-specific economic development to supplant the city-wide sales tax and free it up for other priorities.
Whatever the funding mechanism, the plan brings the city closer to improvements in the corridor and better positions them for grant program funding.
“These aren’t just cartoon drawings; they represent plans that are about 35 percent complete,” Yanez said. “There is surveying and data in these plans that can then be built upon for the construction plan.”
Improvements planned for Northwest 62nd Street to Lakeview Drive area the include installation of a traffic signal at Clark Avenue to coordinate with the pedestrian crossing and allow for construction on the east side of the highway. From the PAC to Lakeview Drive, driveway access locations would be defined, parking improved and a frontage slip lane to be constructed where possible.
The preferred configurations for most areas of the corridor are for a three-lane roadway complete with a 10-foot pedestrian path alongside the road and a 5-foot sidewalk on the other side. In some areas, particularly through downtown, the roadway would remain at two lanes, but the sidewalks and multi-use pathway would be maintained.
All configurations include green space.
The project begins at Highway 45 to Northwest 62nd Street with a three-lane section and enclosed storm sewer at an estimated cost of $726,800
From 62nd to the Parkville Athletic Complex, a traffic signal would be installed at Clark Avenue to coordinate with the pedestrian crossing and allow for construction on the east side of the highway at a cost of $786,400
From the PAC to Lakeview Drive driveway access locations would be defined, parking improved and a frontage slip lane would be constructed where possible at a cost of $1.2 million
Lakeview Drive to 13th Street would potentially include a new Main Street connection allowing better access to residential areas at a cost of $2.8 million
13th Street to 12th Street would include reconstruction of the retaining wall and turning lanes as well as side street sidewalks at a cost of $393,700
From 12th Street to 7th Street would contain much of the same work as the previous section, with turning lanes, retaining walls and sidewalks, at a cost of $675,000
From 7th to 5th streets, the roadway would remain at two lanes due to the narrow right-of-way and impacts on existing properties, along with intersection improvements at 6th Street, at a cost of $554,600
From Second Street to White Alloe Creek, the project would need to be coordinated with adjacent project sections to the east and west where the intersection would be widened and signalized at a cost of $707,500
From White Alloe Creek to Park University Drive the roadway would be widened and signals modified at a cost of $258,500
From Park University Drive to Coffey Road the roadway would be widened and a trail connection made at a cost of $2.30 million
From Coffey Road to Mattox Road, heading into Riverside, a signal would be installed, the roadway widened and trail connection made at a cost of $351,000
Riverside has also asked for CFS to investigate the construction of a trail along the north side of Highway 9 — possibly up on the river bluff — between Riverside and Parkville.