Prairie Village’s long-anticipated project to control flooding along a busy stretch of Mission Road is being delayed until next year.
Why it matters: This project, which is expected to take five years to complete, aims to elevate Mission Road just north of the Prairie Village Shops, as well as residences on the west side of thoroughfare that have flooded when Brush Creek tops its banks.
Where exactly: The area of Mission Road from Tomahawk Road to 67th Street runs along Brush Creek and is known for flooding.
- After homes near 67th Street and Mission Road flooded in summer 2017, the city embarked on a preliminary engineering study that was completed in 2018.
- That proposal anticipated raising Mission Road by nearly 5 feet in order to better prevent future flooding.
- While city staff estimated construction to begin in summer 2022, the city’s storm water project manager Cliff Speegle says designing engineering solutions along Brush Creek have taken longer than anticipated.
The details: An updated project presentation that Speegle gave to the Prairie Village City Council’s committee of the whole earlier this month shows the removal of the parking lot at Schliffke Park, a mostly paved linear park on Mission Road just south of Village Presbyterian Church’s parking lot.
- The trees that line Schliffke Park all be removed, Speegle said, but they will be replaced with “more appropriate” park trees.
- Speegle told the committee that there will eventually be the elevated Mission Road, along with a sidewalk and native vegetation.
- The native vegetation to keep the channel open and keep the flow moving, he said, though some areas in the channel will have retaining walls.
- There will also be utility upgrades conducted by WaterOne, Evergy and Johnson County Wastewater during the construction process, he said.
The price tag: The project cost jumped up from $3.6 million to $3.95 million due to an extended channel and increased construction costs, Speegle said.
What’s next for Mission Road flood control plan
Speegle said the project will begin tree removal, closure of Schliffke Park and utility changes in phase one, which is now expected to begin in spring 2023.
- Mission Road in that area is expected to be closed once the school year is out in May 2023, he said. (Prairie Elementary in the Shawnee Mission School Districts sits nearby at 67th and Mission Road.)
- The best case scenario, he said, would be that a majority of the roadway will be rebuilt and back open by next fall.
Key quote: “By observation, at least in the early morning when I go on my walk or run, there are a lot of people who go through that (park) area,” Councilmember Ron Nelson said. “I anticipate that a lot of people who go through that area now, as a parking lot, would in fact use it as a park if there were benches or other accouterments that were useful other than the parking lot.”
