In response to pleas from parents for safer streets, the Leawood City Council has decided to explore additional pedestrian protections along 83rd Street while moving ahead with sidewalk replacement and new signals already in the plan for next year.
“Our eyes have been opened in the last couple of weeks about how many close calls there have been,” said Councilmember Mary Larson, after a second meeting where parents and in some cases children shared stories of being hit or almost hit by vehicles traveling near Corinth and Brookwood Elementary schools.
Parents at Monday’s meeting emphasized that they have been asking for better signals, sidewalks and slower speed limits for years, and some who spoke at an emotional Nov. 3 meeting returned to underline that point.
Among them was Adam Duede, 8, who was hit Oct. 9 when he momentarily lost control of his bike and wobbled into the street.
“Today is the very first time I rode my bike to school since my accident. I don’t want any other person ever falling in the road,” he said, and asked for a fence to buffer pedestrians from the street.
Death of 10-year-old sparked renewed push for safety
Although parents say they have long voiced concerns about fast traffic and lack of pedestrian infrastructure, the death last month of 10-year-old Duke Ommert as he rode his e-scooter in Leawood has served as a catalyst for renewed parent activity.
“You are being heard, and you are being respected,” Councilmember Julie Cain told the parents in attendance Monday. “Safety is paramount in our minds.”
Councilmember Alan Sunkel said that although he frequently walks in the area, “you have made me see it in a different light.”
“Now I see it as a little one who’s getting jostled by a bigger kid, maybe even knocked over and is four feet away from a guy driving a giant pickup truck on his cell phone because he’s late for a meeting. And I understand that’s frightening,” he said Monday.
Leawood will widen some 83rd Street sidewalks next year
Sidewalk improvements for 83rd Street were already in the city’s 2026 building plan.
The street’s 1995 reconstruction included 4-foot-wide sidewalks where there is separation from the curb and 5-foot-wide sidewalks that directly abut the curb.
Under next year’s plan, hundreds of feet of the narrower sidewalks will be removed and replaced with wider sidewalks.
A rectangular flashing signal will be installed at the crossing of 83rd Street and Wenonga Road, and other signals will be modified to restrict left turns. Those changes come at a cost of an estimated $5.3 million.
Can 83rd Street itself be narrowed?
But parents and members of the city’s Bike/Walk advisory committee said the city needs to consider doing more. The 2026 project leaves about half of the 83rd Street sidewalks at four feet wide, according to city documents.
To bring sidewalk width throughout the area up to a minimum of five feet, 83rd Street would have to be narrowed from its current 32 feet to 29 feet. (The fire code minimum is 27 feet).
Narrowing the street has the potential to slow emergency response times, but 29 feet is the minimum needed to allow vehicles to pull to the side for emergency responders, according to city documents.
Narrowing the street would involve design work and storm sewer modifications that would delay the construction until 2027, city staff estimated. The city council voted unanimously to seek a design/build contractor while proceeding with the planned sidewalk improvements that could be done immediately.
The full city council will learn the cost of additional changes in a later meeting.
Below is a copy of the item in the city council agenda packet.
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Open in new tab The city council suggested other safety measures
In the meantime, councilmembers said they’d be open to hearing more ideas about how to make the pedestrian experience safer in the areas of Corinth (which sits at 83rd and Mission Road) and Brookwood (which is on 103rd, east of Mission).
Some parents had mentioned installing a HAWK (High Intensity Activated crosswalk) signal near the schools. HAWK signals use red and yellow lights to slow and stop traffic after a pedestrian pushes a button.
But Public Works Director David Ley said the crossings in question don’t meet the federal standards for that type of crossing.
Councilmembers and some parents threw out some other ideas, as well.
Councilmember Debra Filla said that “walking school buses” could be encouraged in the interim. Having parents supervise a group of children walking together might slow down traffic, scooters and bikes, she said.
Councilmember Lisa Harrison suggested orange traffic cones to separate drivers and kids walking on the sidewalks. Others mentioned the possibilities of temporary crosswalks or temporary barriers.
