Overland Park presents final recommendations for 79th Street
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — Wednesday was the last night residents could give their input on what they would like to see changed to make 79th Street safer to walk and bike around.
Crosswalks, raised intersections, back-end parking and narrowing the street. That’s just a few recommendations people in Overland Park want to see made to 79th Street. A busy area that could be safer for pedestrians.
After a year of discussions, Wednesday night marked the last time Overland Park residents could either give the thumbs up or down on ways the city plans to clean up a long stretch of 79th Street.
“That’s really the goad of the project, is to make sure that however you get around, you can do it safely and pretty quickly on 79th Street,” Meg Ralph, communications manager for the city, said.
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Those plans include street improvements, a bike corridor and ways to slow cars down. It’s a major road a lot of people and families like to use, either walking or bike riding.
“79th Street especially can get kind of busy. There’s not a lot of crosswalks or safe places for us to cross,” said resident Amy Handley.
One business owner fears some of the plans might make traffic even more congested, like narrowing streets on a busy road and adding street parking and cycling lanes.
“For them to tear up the street and do all that construction, it’s going to limit the access to our store even more,” said business owner Connor Peterson.
The city says hearing from residents gives them a direction to move forward. Finalizing a plan and presenting it to the city council for them to decide what portion of the project will be funded first using tax dollars.
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The timeline of the project isn’t quite finalized either. The plan first needs to be put in front of council leaders and then they’ll decide when to move forward. It’s also likely the work will be done in sections.
