A stretch of 55th Street in Roeland Park that the mayor called “dangerous right now” has prompted city officials to consider a plan to make it safer.
The north side of 55th Street between Shawnee Mission Parkway and Roe Boulevard is in Roeland Park city limits, while a major construction project to the south is in the city of Fairway.
That Fairway development and an upcoming road improvements project has prompted a conversation with city officials in Roeland Park about whether permanently prohibiting on-street parking along the north side of 55th would improve traffic flow, enhance public safety and pave the way for bike lanes in the future.
Currently, Roeland Parkers are prohibited from parking along the north side of 55th Street in the southeast corner of the city anyway, due to ongoing construction of an “active adult” apartment building along Shawnee Mission Parkway.
This particular stretch of 55th Street marks the confluence of the cities of Fairway and Roeland Park, as well as Shawnee Mission Parkway and Buena Vista Street to the east.
Construction workers for The Fieldston, which is in the city of Fairway to the south of 55th Street, park along 55th to access the site. To keep traffic flowing around construction workers’ vehicles, Roeland Park temporarily prohibited parking along the north side of the street as well.
Now, the city is talking about whether to permanently prohibit parking along the Roeland Park side of 55th Street. No action was taken on Monday.
The mayor brought this item to the city council
- For the first time, the Roeland Park City Council during a Monday committee meeting discussed permanently prohibiting street parking along the north side of 55th Street.
- Mayor Michael Poppa, who lives along this stretch of 55th Street himself, said he asked for this item to be put on an agenda in advance of The Fieldston opening and road construction planned for this street in 2025.
- The Fieldston is a 209-unit apartment building for adults ages 55 and over. Developers told the Post via email on Thursday that the $65 to $70 million project is still anticipated to open in summer 2025.
- There is also the potential to add bike lane connections along 55th Street, Poppa said.
Listen to the city council’s entire discussion in the embedded video below, starting at 53:28.
“It’s pretty dangerous right now”
- The Fairway side of the street, or the south side, still offers on-street parking, and more on-street parking is anticipated with the completion of The Fieldston.
- “It’s pretty dangerous right now, and we can only imagine what the volume of parking could be after the multifamily is built this fall,” Poppa said.
- Ward 4 Councilmember Matthew Lero, who also lives along this stretch of 55th Street, said he never encourages people to park on the street.
- His neighbors on either side of him have both had their cars hit because of on-street parking, Lero said.
- “The one benefit of the gravel road that we’re living on now is that the traffic is slowed down because there’s 8 million cars on one side of it,” Lero said.
Many residents along this road have longer driveways
- Poppa said driveways are fairly long at most homes along this stretch of 55th Street. Some can even fit up to six cars.
- At least a couple of driveways to the west are not as long as others, but on-street parking will still be available on the south side of the street as well as along Granada Lane.
- Still, Lero said he is concerned that restricting on-street parking could negatively impact a resident who runs an in-home salon business along 55th Street. He’d like to figure out how to accommodate the business owner if the city moves forward with no parking on this street.
City plans to get public feedback before taking final action
- Ward 4 Councilmember Jeffrey Stocks said he would oppose prohibiting parking along 55th Street unless the city engaged with residents first, to which Poppa replied, “We would have to engage.”
- Ward 3 Councilmember Kate Raglow said she believes Poppa wanted to gauge the city council’s interest before speaking with residents or checking in with the city of Fairway.
- Raglow said if the governing body is interested in prohibiting parking, then she believes the next steps would be to talk to residents and the neighboring city.
Next steps:
- The city council agreed to continue the discussion and keep the idea moving forward.
- The city council meets at 6 p.m. on the first and third Monday of the month at city hall, 4600 W. 51st St.
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