Overland Park intends to try out a road diet on a chunk of Santa Fe Drive next year.
On Wednesday, the Overland Park City Council Public Works Committee unanimously recommended approval of the infrastructure maintenance program plan for 2025. That plan identifies Santa Fe for street preservation work, and when that’s complete, the city will repaint the pavement markers to match the new traffic pattern.
Director of Public Works Lorraine Basalo said the road diet would narrow Santa Fe Drive from four lanes to two lanes between Antioch Road and Robinson Street, about where the road already narrows as it moves into downtown Overland Park.
The eliminated lanes will then be converted into “buffered bike lanes,” she said, though no new walls or barriers are planned at this time.
Overland Park to work on Santa Fe in 2025
Santa Fe Drive will get the ultrathin bonded asphalt surface, or UBAS, method of street preservation, which the city uses on its thoroughfares.
Basalo said that the process will include the removal of some top layer road surface. Then, crews complete the process by “spraying emulsions while laying hot mix asphalt” at the same time, according to McAnany Construction, who has done similar work for Overland Park in the past.
When the city does UBAS projects, it also addresses curb ramps and will replace or repair any sections of existing curbs that need it.
Santa Fe road diet will serve as a test run
- Basalo said the road diet on Santa Fe will be something of a test case to see how it works in practice.
- She also said it will be a chance to see how the public reacts to the shift.
- In the past, Overland Park has used road diets elsewhere, most notably on College Boulevard between Metcalf and Nall avenues.
- Overland Park is also partnering with Prairie Village on a road diet project on Nall Avenue between 67th and 75th streets.
Overland Park is prioritizing bike, foot traffic downtown
On Wednesday, Basalo also noted that the added bike infrastructure could help support long-term plans to encourage less car-forward transportation in the downtown area.
“Santa Fe is really kind of a gateway towards our downtown area, and fits well with the characteristics of that area and what’s intended,” she said.
Recently, the city also completed and endorsed a conceptual corridor plan for 79th Street and the surrounding area that emphasizes bicycle and pedestrian access.
Plus, Overland Park has also spent some federal funds on new wayfinding signs expected to be installed next year that are aimed at directing mostly foot and bike traffic around the downtown area.
“There’s lots of benefits to a road diet, with safety and that multimodal impact getting into downtown, those things that we want to promote that are consistent with our goals as a council and Framework OP,” said Councilmember Drew Mitrisin, who is vice chair of the committee.
Overland Park to spend $53M on infrastructure maintenance
- With the expanded OP Moves infrastructure sales tax, there’s more money coming into the city annually for public works projects.
- In 2025, Overland Park expects to spend $53.19 million on its infrastructure maintenance program plan, which includes street preservation projects across the city, stormwater work, traffic signals, bridges and sidewalks.
- The vast majority of the funds — about $40.9 million — is identified specifically for projects that fall in the street maintenance category, totaling more than 225 lane miles of rehabilitation, preservation and reconstruction.
Next steps:
- The annual maintenance program plan for next year goes to the Overland Park City Council for consideration next.
- Additional discussion and further votes related to 2025 infrastructure projects are likely down the line.
- The exact timeline on when Santa Fe will get its scheduled street work and when the road diet would be implemented is unclear.
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