The city of Prairie Village may take a closer look at traffic speeds along a particular stretch of Tomahawk Road.
Last week, the Prairie Village City Council during a council committee of the whole session voted 11-1 to consider a traffic study along Tomahawk between Roe Avenue and Mission Road. Councilmember Terrence Gallagher cast the lone dissenting vote.
The traffic study is still set to go before the full city council for final consideration.
That particular stretch of Tomahawk falls between the Shops of Prairie Village and Porter Park.
Ward 2 councilmembers proposed the traffic study
- Councilmembers Ron Nelson and Inga Selders, representing the city’s second ward, brought forward the proposal for the study last week.
- Selders said she’d like to see a narrower roadway, accomplished through bike lanes or medians, as well as push-button beacon lights at pedestrian crosswalks.
- Selders said the goal of the traffic study is to look at reducing the speed limit on Tomahawk Road between Roe and Mission from 30 miles per hour to 25 miles per hour.
- Before Roe Avenue and after Mission Road (into Mission Hills), Tomahawk Road is a 25 mph street, she pointed out.
- “It is not appropriate to have people speeding up for those five blocks when you’re going from Porter Park to the Village Shops,” Selders said. “It’s wacky.”
Staff, police feel a traffic study is unwarranted
- Public Works Director Keith Bredehoeft told the city council last week that a traffic study is different from the city’s traffic calming program, which is initiated by residents rather than the city council.
- Bredehoeft said the speed limit along Tomahawk between Nall and Roe recently changed from 30 to 25 mph, but city public works officials believe a speed limit change is unwarranted between Roe and Mission.
- Police Chief Byron Roberson said there have only been two accidents along that stretch of Tomahawk in the past three years.
- Roberson said there is also no significant amount of speeding tickets issued along that stretch of road.
- Additionally, Gallagher didn’t specifically state why he voted no, but he questioned why the traffic study proposal outlined specific traffic calming measures and asked to hear from public works and the police department prior to voting no.
Residents want traffic study, calming measures
- Felix Baquedano, a Prairie Village resident, spoke in favor of a traffic study along this stretch of Tomahawk Road.
- Baquedano said that as a parent of two young children, he’s noticed a “disregard from drivers of that high pedestrian traffic.”
- Jessica Wynn, another resident, said she’s experienced cars driving past her and her three small children as they are crossing the street.
- Both Baquedano and Wynn said they are teaching their school-age children how to ride a bicycle safely, and that stretch of Tomahawk is particularly concerning.
- “We want people to walk, we want people to feel safe, we want to send our kids to school by themselves and to know that they’re OK,” Wynn said. “I think a flashing pedestrian walk sign would be great, I think lowering the speed limit would be really great.”
Next steps:
- The city council will consider final action on a traffic study for that stretch of Tomahawk Road between Roe Avenue and Mission Road.
- City council meetings are held on the first and third Mondays of each month and start at 6 p.m. at City Hall, 7700 Mission Road.
- Watch the entire discussion of the traffic study during last weeks’ council committee of the whole session online here, starting at 4:07:25.
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