RESOLUTION NO. 080201

Expressing the Councils support for the Red Bridge Road Alternatives Plan submitted to the City by Bucher, Willis & Ratliff Corporation.

WHEREAS, the City of Kansas City, Missouri committed local and federal funds in 2004 to improve Red Bridge Road from Holmes Road east across the river to Blue River Road; and

WHEREAS, a design project was initiated at that time, then terminated in 2007 when more wide-spread community involvement with the project was sought; and

WHEREAS, in May 2007, the newly elected Mayor and City Council solicited engineering proposals for an alternatives study of Red Bridge Road from Holmes Road east to Grandview Road, including bridge options; and

WHEREAS, in August 2007, the City contracted with a team led by Bucher, Willis & Ratliff Corporation and assisted by K.C. Consulting, ETC Institute, The Corporate Communications Group, and Taliaferro & Browne to identify a more widely accepted alternative that also addressed current public safety standards; and

WHEREAS, the consulting team has implemented a two-phase community involvement process on communitywide needs and expectations for Red Bridge Road and how the local neighborhoods want the improvements to be designed; and

WHEREAS, the two-phase process included comprehensive public and community involvement, including stakeholder interviews, an advisory committee, an informational website which provided current information as well as an opportunity for the public to comment to the consultant team, a dedicated project phone line for comments, a statistically valid communitywide survey randomly selected from 18,000 area households (1500 surveys were distributed and 423 surveys were completed), a planning charrette and a public input forum; and

WHEREAS, the community survey and public input showed overwhelming support for safely moving traffic and crossing both the river and railroad with a new bridge; and

WHEREAS, through the community involvement process, recommendations for the bridge and the road have been proposed that include suggestions made by community residents; and

WHEREAS, the key features of the recommendations include:

• The road should be designed and posted for a 35 mph speed, enabling it to drop faster to the east and lower the bridge elevation.
• The bridge should be narrower (50 rather than 66).
• Red Bridge Road should be widened to three lanes with curb and gutter rather than five lanes, with a ten-foot wide multi-purpose path on the south side and a five-foot wide sidewalk on the north side.
• A new two lane bridge should be constructed with a multi-purpose path on the south side and a sidewalk on the north side, crossing both the railroad and the Blue River.
• The new bridge would be located north of the existing bridge, but south of the previously proposed alignment.
• Unneeded right-of-way south of the new bridge should become part of Minor Park.
• Red Bridge Road should remain open during construction to the extent practical.

        Historic preservation and aesthetic considerations need to be incorporated into the project beyond minimum requirements given the significance of the site, including aesthetic enhancements to the bridge, consistency with the historical significance of the three trails crossing, preservation and protection of the trail swales, and natural restoration of the impacted areas of Minor Park.

• Burying overhead utilities is desired by the Parks Department and the public, and should be incorporated into the project if the funding is available.
• The entire length of Red Bridge Road from Holmes Road to Grandview Road should be included in the improvement project though it may be necessary to construct the full length in phases.
• The design team should continue to work closely with the community throughout the rest of the construction plan preparation and should incorporate the visual preferences expressed through the charrette to achieve a context sensitive project; and

WHEREAS, in addition to a new bridge that crosses both the railroad and the Blue River, area residents said they want to more easily enter Red Bridge Road from the neighborhood side streets; and

WHEREAS, signalized intersections create gaps in the traffic for side-street-traffic to enter the main road in a way that roundabouts can not do, though there may also be opportunities for incorporating roundabouts in the corridor as will be determined during the design phase; and

WHEREAS, the new project can be designed in time for a September 2009 construction bid, in compliance with federal timetables; and

WHEREAS, the phase of the project from Holmes Road east across the river to Blue River Road, including the new bridge, can be designed and built within the original project budget; NOW, THEREFORE,

BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF KANSAS CITY:

Section 1. The Council expresses its full support for the Red Bridge Road Alternatives Plan submitted to the City by Bucher, Willis & Ratliff Corporation.

Section 2. The Council desires to utilize the services of Bucher, Willis & Ratliff Corporation for project design in accordance with the Red Bridge Road Alternatives Plan submitted to the City.

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