The city of Mission is envisioning a more connected future.
Next week, the Mission City Council will consider amending its comprehensive plan to include Mission Connections, the city’s first-ever citywide bike-pedestrian study that calls for adding or enhancing 15 different routes including the existing Rock Creek Trail.
The city developed Mission Connections over the past year with the help of a Mid-America Regional Council Planning Sustainable Places grant.
Here’s a look at the Mission Connections plan and the ways the city hopes to connect residents throughout the city and the region.
The plan calls for enhanced bicycle and pedestrian routes
Mission Connections contemplates eight different types of “facilities,” such as a trail, a shared-use sidepath, bike lanes and enhanced sidewalks.
The plan breaks the city out into 12 different sections detailing specific recommendations. For example, the northwest sector takes a look at 51st Street to Interstate 35 to the north and south, and Lamar Avenue and U.S. Highway 69 to the east and west.
In the northwest sector, the plan envisions the following:
- A sidepath on the north side of West 51st Street
- A new sidewalk segment along Lamar Avenue near I-35
- The repair of the Streamway Park path
- A redesigned Lamar Avenue and 51st Street intersection to take the bike lanes off-street
- High visibility crosswalks at the intersection of 51st Street and Lamar Avenue as well as Foxridge Drive and Lamar Avenue
Mission Connections also outlines a larger bike-pedestrian network that connects the city from north to south and east to west. The larger network also intends to connect Mission to regional bike-pedestrian paths.
Additionally, the network envisions building out 15 different “point-to-point” routes that use various facilities, like shared paths and bike lanes, to connect bicyclists and pedestrians throughout the city.
Here are the 15 different point-to-point routes outlined in the bike-pedestrian plan, in numerical order:
- Westside Peripheral: This route uses Foxridge Drive and the Rock Creek Trail to connect the northwest apartment district to central Mission.
- Riggs: This route connects residential to the commercial downtown area by way of Glenwood Street and Riggs Avenue.
- Lamar: This regional corridor connects northern Mission to Merriam Drive and southern Mission to the Indian Creek Trail.
- Woodson: This north-south route connects residents to Nall Park and Mohawk Park using Nall Avenue and Woodson Road.
- Maple/Reeds: This eastern route connects to an existing sidepath along Nall Avenue and serves the downtown area.
- 53rd: This east-west route uses 53rd Street and apartment parking lot drives to connect people to Rushton Elementary and Water Works Park.
- 57th: Another east-west route that uses Broadmoor Street to connect eastern neighborhoods to the Metcalf Avenue corridor.
- Martway: This route is parallel to the Rock Creek Trail and connects people to central Mission, with destinations like the Powell Community Center, city hall, downtown and the bus transit center.
- Rock Creek Trail: The city’s main shared-use path that runs east-west has opportunities to connect people to other streets and major retailers.
- South Peripheral: This route continues the Westside Peripheral route to connect neighborhoods north of Shawnee Mission Parkway.
- Parkway South: An east-west route that runs parallel to Shawnee Mission Parkway, with destinations like Highland Elementary and Indian Hills.
- Beverly: A route for the Milhaven neighborhood that uses Beverly and Maple drives to connect to eastside schools.
- Roeland: A route that uses Roeland Drive and Roe Avenue to connect residential neighborhoods to Johnson Drive and Highlands Elementary.
- Johnson Drive: A regional corridor that connects to seven other routes and features destinations like the Powell Community Center, Rock Creek Trail and transit center.
- 58th Street: An alternative option to Johnson Drive for bicyclists to use to connect to downtown Mission.
There are three phases for Mission Connections
- Phase one features parts of 10 different routes including along Westside Peripheral, Parkway South, Woodson, Johnson Drive, Martway and Beverly.
- The projects associated with routes for phase one “can be implemented along with short-term street projects and/or are relatively inexpensive,” according to the study.
- Phase two projects include parts of five different routes such as Lamar and Roeland, but entail “more specific design or introduce new types of infrastructure” to the route, according to the study.
- Phase three projects like Riggs and Maple/Reed are more long-term and may require decisions on other major projects or involve other municipalities, according to the study.
- There are no specific timelines connected to the phases in Mission Connections, but recommendations in the plan should be included in specific public improvement projects as they are considered, according to city documents.
A full breakdown of the Mission Connections plan can be found online here.
Next steps:
- The city council is anticipated to consider amending its comprehensive plan to include Mission Connections at its Sept. 18 meeting.
- City council meetings start at 7 p.m. at city hall, 6090 Woodson St.
Go deeper: Here’s what Mission is imagining for a Rock Creek Trail transformation
