By Leslie Collins
Northeast News
March 21, 2012

Want to see Cliff Drive for yourself? Check out our video at: http://youtu.be/bpfClApBNq0

Not everyone’s a fan of vehicles driving along Cliff Drive, despite the fact it’s a state scenic byway.

Some say the drive becomes a magnet for illegal dumping, an avenue for cars to race and a place for prostitutes to turn tricks.

Their solution is to close Cliff Drive Scenic Byway five days a week to vehicle traffic.

Adam Schieber, president of the Cliff Drive Scenic Byway Corridor Management Committee, is heading up the effort to close the drive to vehicles Wednesday through Sunday and said a number of committee members and area residents favor the proposal.

“I’ve talked to a lot of biking groups and jogging groups who utilize Cliff Drive who say they’d utilize it more if there were more opportunities to go down there and ensure they’re not going to run into a vehicle,” Schieber told Northeast News.

When Schieber explained his proposal during the March 13 Pendleton Heights Neighborhood Association meeting, the neighborhood voiced approval. One resident said she’s witnessed cars race along the curves and that she felt safer with Cliff Drive closed on the weekends. Car-free weekends began in 2008 when the Kansas City Parks and Recreation Department opted to provide more opportunities for pedestrians and bicyclists.

“Without cars going through Cliff Drive, it would really reduce a lot of the problems we have on Cliff Drive in general,” Kansas City Police Department Officer Chris Taylor said during the Pendleton Heights meeting. “A lot of people go down there and park, and there’s really no reason to go down there and park at night unless you’re up to no good.”

During the meeting, Schieber said he wanted to gather feedback from both the Pendleton Heights and Scarritt Renaissance neighborhoods, since the gates to Cliff Drive are located within those neighborhoods. However, one gate is located within the Indian Mound neighborhood.

“The eastern most gate to Cliff Drive is well within the Indian Mound boundaries,” Indian Mound Neighborhood Association President Katie Greer said. “I did not find out about this from Adam or anyone from the Cliff Drive Scenic Byway Corridor Management Committee contacting me to ask me about my opinion. I heard about it through the grapevine, which is a little insulting.

“I absolutely do not support it being closed five days a week (to vehicle traffic). The intent of Cliff Drive was for it to be a drive. It was made for vehicle traffic.”

History of Cliff Drive

Designed by George E. Kessler, Cliff Drive was constructed from 1893 to 1915 and was originally designed for carriage rides. By 1906, motorized vehicles were allowed to travel along the winding roadway. In addition to its views overlooking Kansas City and the Missouri River, Cliff Drive features natural springs, limestone bluffs, natural vegetation and wildlife. Located in Kessler Park, Cliff Drive extends 4.27 miles from The Paseo and Independence Avenue through Indian Mound on Gladstone Boulevard at Belmont Boulevard. In June of 2000, Cliff Drive was officially designated as a state scenic byway. It’s the only scenic byway in Missouri that’s located in an urban setting.

“Nearly all historic reports, accounts and promotional brochures of Kansas City from this era (1900s) refer to Cliff Drive when speaking of the park system,” according to www.cliffdrive.org. “Cliff Drive is one of George Kessler’s masterpieces and is deservedly acknowledged as ‘the drive that made Kansas City’s park and boulevard system famous.'”

Closure opposition

David Remley, treasurer of the Cliff Drive Scenic Byway Corridor Management Committee, opposes the push to close Cliff Drive five days a week to vehicle traffic. To promote Cliff Drive’s current use, Remley has created a website called “Cliff Drive Open to All.” As of Monday, March 19, more than 50 names were listed on his petition stating access to Cliff Drive “should not be restricted any further.”

“The dumping in the ’50s was much worse than it is now because there was no free trash pick-up and no bulky item pick-up, so if somebody had a fridge, it ended up over there (on Cliff Drive),” Remley said. “It was a lot worse back then, but we cleaned it up. That’s what you do with a byway – if there’s trash, you clean it up.”

When asked about cars racing down Cliff Drive, Remley responded, “They race down I-70, too. Should we close that? It’s a state scenic byway. We should be publicizing it as a jewel of Northeast, have people come and see what we’ve got here. We don’t want them to have to come and park and walk it.”

Further restricting vehicle access would discriminate against the less able bodied, he said. He also questioned how emergency vehicles would be able to enter Cliff Drive if the gates were closed five days a week. If a climber fell from the cliff or a pedestrian had a heart attack, emergency personnel would spend precious minutes trying to gain access to the drive.

“It’s been opened to cars since 1906, which is 104 years, and all of a sudden we can’t share?” Remley said.

Kansas City’s Parks and Recreation Department also questioned the proposal.

“I don’t think we would be in favor of it,” said Forest Decker, superintendent of parks. “Cliff Drive is designated as a scenic byway. As part of that designation, it is available to vehicle traffic.”

If Cliff Drive were to close for most of the week, Decker said he worries the drive could lose its state scenic byway status. While the parks department isn’t necessarily opposed to closing the drive to traffic more often, five days a week is too excessive, Decker said. One possibility would be extending the closure to three days a week, he said. A formal proposal has not been brought before the parks and recreation board.

Schieber stood firm on his proposal and stressed that part of the byway lies outside the gates, where vehicles could still drive. In addition, other urban parks like Central Park in New York City, N.Y., also restrict access to roads at different times, he said.

“A tourist can go down and utilize Cliff Drive without having to drive it,” he said. “‘We’re closing Cliff Drive’ is really a misrepresentation. We’re wanting to restrict vehicle access. It would open up Cliff Drive to more pedestrian uses. I could argue I’m really trying to open Cliff Drive.

“If I didn’t have the support from other groups, neighbors and neighborhoods, I would not pursue this.”

For a first-hand look at Cliff Drive, check out our video later this week at www.northeastnews.net.