Last year marked a time of change and growth for Lenexa, including its first new mayor in more than 20 years.
Giving her first State of the City Address, Mayor Julie Sayers highlighted positive changes that happened in the city in 2023 — including a new skate park and infrastructure — while looking to what’s coming this year.
Sayers wants to continue former Mayor Boehm’s legacy
Starting off her speech, Sayers paid homage to her predecessor, former Mayor Mike Boehm.
Sayers said her four years on the Lenexa City Council was a learning experience that included mentorship from Boehm. She said Boehm laid the groundwork for what she wants to accomplish in office.
“I have every intention of continuing the same economic development strategy, guiding principles, traditions and values-based delivery of exceptional public service that make Lenexa the premier city that it is today,” she said.
Several big projects were completed
- Rolling Magic Skate Park in Sar-Ko-Par Trails Park was a point of pride in what the city accomplished in 2023.
- It also completed the “bicycle boulevard,” which gives cyclists a safe route to travel through the city.
- It also opened two new disc golf courses in Black Hoof Park, an 18-hole championship-level course and a family-friendly, nine-hole course.
The city continues to invest in companies and people
- More than $660 million was permitted in construction, Sayers said, besting the previous record in 2018 by almost $200 million.
- The total includes new investment in construction, like the AdventHealth project at Lenexa City Center and the Vantage Point project.
- It also factors in reinvestment in existing companies like Kiewit, Light Edge Cavern Technology and Thermo Fisher Scientific.
- Through its Exterior Grant Program, the city awarded more than $85,000 in grants to residents who live in aging homes.
Infrastructure projects are a target in 2024
- A new traffic signal will be installed at the intersection of 83rd Street and Lackman Road.
- With hopes of easing congestion, a right-turn lane will be built on northbound Lackman Road, at the Interstate 435 entrance ramp.
- Upgrades are also coming to other streets, including Santa Fe Trail Drive.
Long-time city projects will open in 2024
- Sar-Ko-Par Aquatic Center will be finished and ready to open on Memorial Day.
- The new Lenexa Justice Center is expected to open in late summer. It is touted as being a more modern, welcoming and secure facility.
- A study will be conducted on how the former public safety complex site at 87th and Monrovia can be repurposed into a sixth fire station.
- An additional fueling station and salt storage facility will be built on the grounds of Freedom Field to address the needs of growing areas in the city.
- Construction is underway for Lenexa Old Town Activity Center. It will combine the Lenexa Community Center and Senior Center. The city expects to open the new center late this year.
Lenexa ranked high on its citizen survey
Sayers highlighted several results from the city’s biannual satisfaction survey:
- 96% of respondents said they were very satisfied or satisfied with the overall quality of life in Lenexa.
- 98% of residents said they viewed Lenexa as either excellent or good place to live.
- 97% of respondents gave excellent or good marks when asked to rate Lenexa as a place to raise children.
- Fire, EMS and police also received satisfactory responses from those who were surveyed.
“I share these survey results because they are objective proof of what I think we all feel in our hearts: Lenexa is a special place,” Sayers said.
Go deeper: Read Mayor Sayers’s full State of the City speech transcript
