The largest infrastructure project in the history of the city of Roeland Park is well underway, and the residential part of the corridor is on track for completion by Thanksgiving 2020.
Roe 2020, a $10 million renovation project on the city’s main thoroughfare, is in its fourth month of construction. Mayor Mike Kelly said the city appreciates residents’ patience with inconveniences brought on by the project. Although no project is perfect, Kelly said he’s proud of the outreach campaign the city has conducted since the beginning.
“It’s been very encouraging,” Kelly said. “Obviously with any kind of construction there’s growing pains and there’s an information hurdle that you try your best to jump over. You try multifaceted approaches to getting this information out to people.”
Below is the most recent project update provided by the city in the Sept. 23 newsletter:
- Miles Excavating, the contractor, began removing old street lights and installing bases for new lights south of 51st Street and on the east side of Roe.
- Nearly all of the sidewalks south of 51st Street are completed (99%).
- Milling of asphalt pavement will begin within the next two weeks, also south of 51st Street.
- Currently, the contractor is grading yards and will begin sodding yards in the next three weeks.
- While the east side of 55th Street is still closed to traffic, the west side of 55th Street is now open. Drivers can access Roe Boulevard to go north or south from the west side of 55th Street.
- New curbs are being installed from 48th Street to 51st Street, on both the east and west sides.
- Lastly, the remaining, full-depth intersections are being removed with new base asphalt put back north of 51st Street and on the east side of Roe at 55th Street.
Kelly said in the coming weeks, construction will begin on the traffic signal at the intersection of Roe Boulevard and 55th Street. This will cause the east side of 55th Street, Rosewood Drive and 50th Terrace to be closed for a couple of weeks, he said.
The tentative timeline released in March 2020 showed major construction milestones south of 51st Street would be completed by Oct. 31, a deadline Kelly said the project is on schedule to hit. More information about the project as a whole can be found on the city’s Roe 2020 online hub here.
