Leslie Collins
Northeast News
August 31, 2011

Smoother roads won’t be the only improvements to Cliff Drive. Thanks to a $641,990 grant from the National Scenic Byways Program, Cliff Drive will also receive several recreational improvements.

Kansas City Parks and Recreation Department was notified of its award late last week.

Kansas City was the only community in Missouri to receive a piece of the nationally competitive grant, said Jennifer Jones-Lacy, special projects manager with the Kansas City Parks and Recreation Department.

Improvements to the scenic byway will span Paseo Boulevard on the west to Gladstone Boulevard on the east. One focus will be on repairing and replacing the historic stairways located throughout the corridor, Jones-Lacy said.

A lot of people don’t even notice those because they’re overgrown or falling apart, she said of the stairways. Basically, the idea is to repair those and connect them with paved walking trails, so people can enjoy the entire byway and not just have to stick to the streets.

Other improvements will include installing more Share the road signs, clearing overgrown trees that are blocking the eight scenic overlooks and adding benches.

Stone retaining walls near the scenic overlooks will also be restored and a decorative steel fence will be erected on top of each wall for added safety and to prevent illegal dumping, Jones-Lacy said.

The grant is a reimbursable grant, which means the city will need to front the money for improvements. City council members will need to approve the appropriation of funds.

Work will begin in mid-2012 and is expected to be completed in 2013, she said.

We thought this would be a great addition to that area and hopefully, bring some more people out to use it for recreational purposes, Jones-Lacy said. And the more people you have out there, the more likely you are to deter crime and negative activity that can occur. Hopefully, this project will have that type of effect.