By Joe Jarosz
Northeast News
September 17, 2014

KANSAS CITY, Missouri – The options are there.

Now it’s a matter of figuring out which would be best for business along Cliff Drive.

At the Cliff Drive Corridor Management Committee’s quarterly meeting last Wednesday, committee members, Northeast neighborhood association representatives and area stakeholders discussed the three options presented for the future of Cliff Drive.

Kansas City parks superintendent Forest Decker laid out the options that will be presented to area stakeholders. Once an option is determined, he said he would be willing to bring the option to the Board of Parks and Recreation Commissioners Workshop. Decker emphasized that the ideas still need to be fleshed out, but have been whittled down from the 30 plus suggestions he’s received over the past couple months. Once the option has been approved in the workshop, he’ll present his recommendation to the Parks Board.

“I sent out the recommendations to a group of people and got feedback from those recommendations,” Decker said, adding a timeline on moving forward has also been discussed. The next possible workshop where decided options can be discussed will be in October.

The first option would be to close Cliff Drive temporarily until it is cleaned up and other benchmarks are met. Recently, the committee approved the closure of the gates, before asking Northeast residents to sign a petition supporting the closure. However, some residents have opposed closing the gates.

The second idea being floated is to revise traffic flow along Cliff Drive in order to make the scenic byway a one-way road. This option would establish a single lane of traffic on the eastbound lane, with the westbound lane being converted into a bike/pedestrian lane. This option would prevent vehicles from accessing dumping points over the cliff. Along with this option, it is being recommended that gates two and three close, while visitors only use gates one and four for access. The long-term goal of this option would be to place a physical barrier along the entire length of the drive, separating vehicles and the bicycles/pedestrians.

The third option would be to establish a gated, toll system, Decker said similar to toll roads in national parks. This option would require an electronic toll system to be established. Decker admitted that further studies would be needed for this option.

“I would say that was our weakest recommendation because we didn’t have a lot of detail on how to accomplish that and would need further study,” Decker said.

Decker told the committee that the options could be combined, noting that idea is something that could come out of the workshop. The workshop is an open meeting and any Cliff Drive stakeholders are welcome to attend.

Brett Shoffner, executive director for Cliff Drive Corridor Management Committee, said those involved with the decision making, have gotten a lot further in establishing alternatives than the originally desired closing of the drive. Now, Shoffner added, its time to share the options with a wider audience.

“Whether or not its the best alternative, I think we can all work together over the next few weeks to get on the same page and progress and see something actually happen with the gates, trash and clearing the cliffs back out. We need to get people back in the park.”