The suburb of Lee’s Summit, MO is updating its extensive greenway plan. The plan includes a 40 mile loop around the city, as well as another 70 miles of trails inside the city. While the outer loop is mostly a streamway recreational trail, most of the interior routes would be the troublesome side paths alongside city streets. The plan only includes a few segments of on-street bike routes and bike lanes.

Lee’s Summit is in a strategic position for regional bikeways. Its greenway plan will connect major destinations like Longview Lake, the Little Blue Trace, and Fleming Park’s Lake Jacomo and Blue Springs Lake. The city’s location along the Rock Island Line means it will someday provide a key link between the Katy Trail and the KC metro area.

• KC Star: Lee’s Summit updates its greenway plan.
• Lee’s Summit Parks & Rec: Greenway plan details and maps.

Posted on Fri, Dec. 07, 2007
Lee’s Summit updates its greenway plan
By RUSS PULLEY
The Kansas City Star

The Planning Commission recently heard an update of the city’s Greenway Master Plan, worked on by a citizen’s task force, consultants and the Parks and Recreation Department. The commission voted to go ahead with a resolution to make the greenway part of the city’s comprehensive plan.

A new concept is a “blueway” to be folded into the greenway plan. It would add “paddle sports” on the Little Blue River or along lakeshores.

The greenway still includes a 40-mile loop around the city, although only a small part of that loop has been completed since 1998, when the original project was outlined. The loop is a marked bike trail sharing roads near Longview Lake.

There has been more progress on 110 miles of connecting trails, with 25 miles of that network completed.

The long-term goal is to provide not only recreation opportunities but transportation alternatives, said Tom Lovell, parks administrator.

In updating the plan, the task force set priorities for which sections of the greenway should be built earliest, based on their role in the overall plan, and tying to the area’s MetroGreen trail network and the Katy Trial.

Commission members asked when city staff members expected the City Council to pursue suggestions for completing the greenway.

“How are you going to protect those natural features, because they’re slipping through our fingers?” asked Kathy Smith. “I’d like to see some teeth to it…I see the vision, but I’m worried what will be left.”

Chairman Stan Christopher said nearly every project that comes before the commission has some impact on the potential greenway. He noted that having stricter rules for stream setbacks is an important step. Voters in November approved a $15.4 million bond issue to fix flooding issues. The city expects to ask residents for more money later to finish that job.

“The stormwater and sewer issues we’re dealing with could have been avoided,” Christopher said.

The task force has suggested the council:

•Require developers to set aside land for trails and open space, or pay a fee for that purpose.

•Develop a “conservation zone” or easement in undeveloped areas to preserve potential trail corridors.

•Pass a “stream setback” regulation to prevent building subdivisions too close to waterways. Those corridors also could be used for trails.

Foster Paulette, superintendent of park planning and development, said no timetable has been set, and the council may not choose those measures. The task force wanted to recommend the “optimal tool box” for greenway development, he said.

Where possible, the parks department plans to build trails on land the city acquires for stormwater and flood control.

The city also hopes to make a priority the segments that would qualify for federal or state matching funds and cooperative projects with the county or other cities.

The parks department also has developed a marketing and education plan for residents. Nearly every day the city receives inquiries from residents about trail opportunities, officials said.

The city also could seek voter approval of a city or regional sales tax to finance greenway projects.

Heping Zhan, manager of long-range planning in the Community Development Department, said the parks staff regularly talks with developers about preserving open space and trail corridors in pre-application meetings. Zhan said the city frequently gets cooperation from developers “even if they don’t all like it.”

He said making the trail system part of the city’s comprehensive plan would provide a more-complete picture of the desire for the city’s future and help incorporate it into projects. It is a guide that would be adjusted, he said.