by Mary Wilson, mwilson@jcadvocate.com
As crews put the finishing touches on the fourth phase of
Grandview’s Main Street renovation, the Mid-America Regional Council (MARC)
notified the City of Grandview that the project is among the honorees as a 2016
Sustainable Success Story.
Grandview’s $6.1 million, four-phase Main Street Improvement
Project is an example of a complete street design, incorporating a road diet to
minimize the width of the street, widened sidewalks, and pocket parks along the
six-tenths mile stretch into the heart of Downtown Grandview. The Main Street
Improvement Project is often seen as the catalyst for recent growth in
Grandview, including a redeveloped Truman’s Marketplace shopping center, and
construction of Gateway Village, a $300 million stay-and-play development of
soccer fields, hotels, restaurants, retail and residential components.
“With its unique
style, native landscaping, special architectural features and design, and
pedestrian-friendly feel, Public Works Director Dennis Randolph and our design
consultants BHC Rhodes have created a whole new Main Street Corridor that
should stand the test of time for our city’s residents for many years to come,”
said City Administrator Cory Smith.
Grandview presented its Main Street Improvement Project at
MARC’s Sustainable Success Stories program, alongside other innovative projects
like the KC Streetcar, at the Kauffman Foundation. MARC’s Sustainable Success Stories
competition encourages local organizations to submit projects focusing on
sustainable development in the Greater Kansas City region, with an emphasis on
green and complete street policies, projects and initiatives.
Receiving over 20 submissions each year, MARC’s Assistant
Director for Transportation and Land Use Martin Rivarola said that they chose
Grandview in order to highlight a completed project that included a long-range
transportation plan to improve and enhance the community.
“These changes can be challenging along existing corridors,
impacting surrounding businesses and other pains as projects are improving the
area,” said Rivarola. “What we saw in the project from Grandview as a good
amount of effort given to implementing the street elements we were looking for,
including streetscaping, as well as solid demonstration of innovative
stormwater management, in conjunction with other economic development efforts
currently taking place in the city.”
Rivarola added that MARC saw a need to showcase successful
implementations of complete projects to replicate elsewhere in the region.
MARC’s Sustainable Success Stories is part of an
ongoing community dialogue focused on building a better understanding of
sustainable practices that have the potential to transform the entire community
into “America’s Green Region.” By sharing local successes and challenges, MARC
can enable community partners to learn about and replicate locally-tailored,
high-impact sustainability practices.
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