Unified Government officials cut the ribbon for the Leavenworth Road improvement project on Thursday, Oct. 24, at 53rd and Leavenworth Road in Kansas City, Kansas.
Mayor David Alvey today called the completed Leavenworth Road improvements from 38th to 63rd streets “a beautiful work.”
The first phase of the improvement project has been completed from 38th to 63rd streets, according to UG officials. There are new curbs, sidewalks, gutters and pavements. Traffic signals have been improved and some turn lanes have been added.
The construction contractor for the project was Miles Excavating Inc., and the project designer was Burns and McDonnell, according to information from the UG.
The construction contract was $11.7 million, with the total project cost at $16.6 million, according to information from the UG. The project received $8.66 in federal grants, including $6.96 million in surface transportation program funds through the Mid-America Regional Council.
According to UG officials, project construction started in January 2018 and was completed and accepted on Oct. 7, 2019.
At the Oct. 21 UG Public Works and Safety Committee meeting, public works officials said the second phase of Leavenworth Road improvements is starting west of 63rd Street and continuing to 78th. Right-of-way negotiations are underway, the Board of Public Utilities has started electric utility relocations, and major construction will be late next summer or early fall in 2020, according to public works officials.
The second phase of the Leavenworth Road improvements is estimated at $9 million, and is funded with a combination of a federal grant and matching local funds, according to information presented at the public works committee meeting.
“Sometimes our infrastructure does not match the community of our people,” Mayor David Alvey said at the ribbon-cutting. “When this project was launched, knowing how hard the people of this community worked to make it happen, and now to see the first phase of it completed, it really does encourage me.”
He said the Leavenworth Road project “is a beautiful work, it’s still in progress, and it now matches the beauty of the people who live along here.”
He thanked UG commissioners, former mayors, members of the Leavenworth Road Association, the federal government which provided funding, the Kansas Department of Transportation and all who made it happen.
Commissioner Melissa Bynum, 1st District at large, said, “We know that patience is a virtue. We all will be richly rewarded in the patience we’ve shown in getting to today.”
Commissioner Bynum grew up in a neighborhood off Leavenworth Road and still lives in a neighborhood off Leavenworth Road, attended church on Leavenworth Road and served for about 10 years as executive director of the Leavenworth Road Association.
She thanked the Leavenworth Road Association for showing support and patience with the project.
“We know factually that when we make these kinds of capital improvements in our communities, economic development does follow,” Commissioner Bynum said. “We are seeing that on Leavenworth Road, and I’m certain that we will see more of that to come.”
Commissioner Jane Philbrook said Leavenworth Road has been the stepchild of Wyandotte County, and it had not been treated the way it should have been.
She said engineers had not committed to a plan for Leavenworth Road earlier because they had not had a good community conversation. Commissioner Philbrook advocated for a community meeting, and it’s how the improvements started. Meetings were held and the public made comments on the project.
“This was an example of public-private partnership that I’m extremely pleased with,” Commissioner Philbrook said. “It is important to keep the community involved, because we do matter what we say, and we want to make things better for the community.”
She was especially glad to see the sidewalks on Leavenworth Road, which will improve safety for parents with strollers and everyone walking on Leavenworth Road.
Commissioner Gayle Townsend, 1st District, said she remembered when Leavenworth Road was narrow and was something to be avoided.
Today, she said it’s something to be enjoyed and a source of pride.
“People forget how big District 1 is, so this project also includes a part of District 1, from 38th to almost 60th Street,” Commissioner Townsend said.
She thanked all the community members who suffered through the construction on Leavenworth Road.
