For Jane Blackerby, a nearly 30-year Merriam resident, downtown Merriam and its future should be left alone.
Blackerby’s opinion about downtown Merriam appears to be shared by many in the area, as “don’t bulldoze downtown Merriam” yard signs pop up along Merriam Drive between Johnson Drive and Antioch Road.
“We love the general feel of the downtown being small, it’s like a small town in the middle of the city,” Blackerby told the Post at Sept. 1 downtown master plan input open house.
“The Turkey Creek path is very natural, there’s blue heron, there’s ducks, there’s everything. I’m afraid if they do a bunch of development, all those things are gonna disappear.”
This comes as the city is in the middle of a downtown master plan process, which aims to get the public’s input on how the city’s downtown area should change in the future — including how to address the floodplain caused by Turkey Creek running alongside Merriam Drive.
Still, other Merriam residents — and business owners — feel differently about the future of downtown. Nearly 80% of 471 respondents support “a different direction for downtown,” meaning something other than what it currently looks like, according to findings from a 2026 downtown master plan survey.
The city council and planning commission discussed three options, ranging from little to no changes to a drastic overhaul of the downtown as it exists today. Still, no final plans are being presented until the Nov. 23 city council meeting.
A look at the options
There are three options that Overland Park-based Shockey Consulting developed for the city as part of the downtown master plan process.
All three options include the following features, whether new or existing, as outlined in city documents:
- The farmers market
- A Turkey Creek trail connection
- A splash pad and family play area by Turkey Creek
- A flood warning system and evacuation plan
- Local businesses, multifamily housing and open spaces
- Public art, parking and improved sidewalks and landscaping
The options range from little to no changes with the least amount of disruption to existing owners to options that raze parts of downtown from the floodplain and make significant changes to downtown.
Two of the three options align with two separate, existing plans to remove downtown Merriam out of the floodplain.
The first floodplain removal plan, developed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, calls for levees and floodwalls to be built along Turkey Creek. This option, which leaves most of the downtown businesses intact, aligns with Vision C, entitled “Transform.”
A separate floodplain removal plan, developed by Kansas City-based engineering firm HNTB, calls for the razing of historic downtown between the Merriam Drive and Johnson Drive bridges.
This option, which removes every business in that stretch of Merriam Drive, aligns most closely with Vision B, entitled “Grow.”
Here’s a look at the plans as presented by Shockey on Monday:
- Vision A, Refine: A limited project with no dollar amount tied to flood control as no changes to the regulatory floodplain are envisioned as part of this plan. Downtown stays generally as it is with no new housing.
- Vision B, Grow: A medium-scale plan with new buildings planned for land that is removed from the regulatory floodplain, with about 250 new homes and a mixed-use building. For an estimated $84 million, for only flood control, 33 acres of the 44 acres are removed from the floodplain.
- Vision C, Transform: A large-scale project that removes all 44 acres from the floodplain for $147 to $247 million, featuring levees and berms under the Corps’ plan. Housing, walkability and accessibility are all key factors of this plan.
More information on each individual plan can be found in the embedded document below.
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Open in new tab The costs for each vision are only for flood control
Sheila Shockey, founder and chief executive officer of Shockey Consulting, presented the three ideas to the planning commission and city council during a joint meeting on Monday, Sept. 14.
Shockey said the estimates for the three different visions, including no dollars associated with Vision A, are only for flood control costs.
For example, Shockey said that the $84 million cost associated with Vision B did not include estimates for how much it would cost for utilities to be moved.
The Corps’ estimate for the Turkey Creek project went up from $110 million to $247 million, Shockey said. It is no longer “meeting the benefit cost ratio,” she said, and the city would have to go to the U.S. Congress to get the project funded at that cost.
Other than the Corps’ $247 million price tag for Vision C, HNTB is estimating that to cost $147 million. It is more conceptual than the Corps’s project, though, Shockey said.
Still, Shockey said that 81% of residents who took the survey support a quarter-cent sales tax dedicated to downtown upgrades.
Any potential changes under Vision B or Vision C are expected to happen after flood control, roughly eight to 10 or more years from now, according to city documents.
“A lot of nothing” vs. “disturbing for us”
Cory Lundgren, who returned to Merriam about a year ago, told the Post in a Sept. 1 interview at a downtown Merriam master plan open house that he believes redevelopment is necessary.
He wants a downtown that is more like that of Mission or Shawnee, with shopping and restaurants that draw in people from other cities.
Currently, Lundgren enjoys the farmers market downtown. Outside of that, he said there is “a lot of room for improvement and development there.”
“It’s not the most inviting place in the world,” Lundgren said. “There’s a lot of nothing, it kind of seems like, in a sense.”
Lundgren said he wants to see changes happen sooner rather than later in the downtown area. The option he was most interested in on Sept. 1 was Vision C, which conceptualizes the most changes to the downtown area.
For Lundgren, spending the money to prevent issues from happening down the road because of flooding is worth it.
Lundgren’s opinion is nearly the complete opposite to that of Blackerby, the nearly 30-year resident who is opposed to changes in downtown Merriam.
For Blackerby, the most change she’s comfortable with includes updates to some buildings.
Any widespread changes that bring major development with “huge apartments, tons of shops, tons of nightlife,” is out of the question for Blackerby.
“I’m afraid if there’s a lot of things going on, it’s gonna be very disturbing for us in the evening when we’re trying to sit on our back porch and be quiet,” Blackerby said.
There is still time to give input on the plan
Through Oct. 4, residents, business owners and downtown Merriam users can give their input on the three visions for downtown online here.
Those who take the survey can first review all three plans, compare them, and then take the survey.
The results of the vision framework survey will be folded into a final draft, which will be received by the city council on Nov. 23.
In 2027, the city council and planning commission would consider formally amending the city’s comprehensive plan to include the downtown master plan.
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