In 2008 the voters of Blue Springs approved funds to expand and improve Woods Chapel Road from Interstate 70 south to the railroad tracks.

The first step in redeveloping Woods Chapel Road is acquiring the rights of way on both sides of the road. Widening the road cannot occur until this step is complete. This is a time-consuming process that involves properly compensating the property owners and establishing easements for the new sections of roadway.

While right-of-way acquisition is under way, the traffic engineers are creating the plans for the roadway modifications. These activities take time and provide no visible progress to residents in the community. As with most projects and developments, many significant steps are required that lay the groundwork for completion. This important project has progressed normally with completion anticipated in 2013. The current anticipated schedule for each section of the road is:

* I-70 to Castle Drive out for bid in March 2011, substantial completion by December 2012
* I-70 to Duncan out for bid in March 2011, substantial completion by December 2012
* Castle to railroad out for bid in March 2012, substantial completion by December 2013

As the western gateway to our city, Woods Chapel Road is a critical north-south connection for many residents. Improvements to this area are long overdue and are likely to facilitate the retail growth and redevelopment that the residents of this area of the city have long desired.

The city is working diligently on the road improvements planned for Woods Chapel Road, and the work is progressing even though it is not yet visible.

Recently the city held a public meeting to provide information and answer questions regarding the current progress and details of the project proposed. Once planning and right-of-way acquisition is complete, utility relocation is scheduled to begin next fall and actual roadway construction is estimated to begin the summer of 2011. Completion of the project is anticipated in 2013. As the westernmost north-south corridor in Blue Springs, Woods Chapel Road improvements are long overdue and will be a welcome enhancement to this area of our community.  This information is available at http://www.bluespringsgov.com/woodschapel.

Wanda and I had the privilege of volunteering at five of the Ararat Shrine Circus shows this past weekend, and we, along with thousands of others, had the pleasure of attending the first two Missouri Mavericks hockey games at the new Independence Events Center. After tailgating with Happy Hour and the Blue Springs Chamber of Commerce, we cheered the Mavericks on to their second home victory Saturday evening. What a beautiful facility!

Driving through Coronado Place and Adams Dairy Landing recently, the signs of new shopping and dining opportunities are impossible to miss. The Gap Generations store and Sally Beauty Supply will be open very soon. Chipotle, Mattress Firm and Game Stop are coming along nicely. Furniture Gallery has opened across from Wal-Mart, and the Olive Garden restaurant is beginning to take shape across from Home Depot, joining Texas Roadhouse as another full-service dining option.

Sales tax revenue from all of these projects is already having a positive impact on our city’s revenue. That will continue to improve as more people become aware of the new shopping and dining opportunities in Blue Springs. As these developments continue to attract new retail and restaurant tenants, our local buying choices expand. The success of these new businesses is critical to our community’s economic health, so remember to buy Blue Springs!

Along with all of these new retail opportunities, Missouri Innovation Park continues to be a bright star on the horizon. While this is a complicated project with many technical facets, the positive impact that thousands of new, high-paying, quality jobs will have on the future growth of our community and the region cannot be overestimated.

Progress on these developments will bring new opportunities, for many areas in our community, to consider in the coming months. Now is the time for our city leaders to have a vision beyond the individual projects and continue to have the flexibility to adjust as the market responds to our successes!

CITY OF BLUE SPRINGS, MISSOURI
MEDIA ADVISORY
903 W. Main Street Blue Springs, MO 64015 P: 816.228.0110 F: 816.228.7592 W: www.bluespringsgov.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DATE: November 17, 2009
CONTACT: Merideth Parrish, Public Information Officer
Phone: 816.655.0497, Cell: 816.935.4176
Email: mparrish@bluespringsgov.com

Open House Public Meeting Scheduled for
Woods Chapel Road Improvements, November 19, 2009

Blue Springs, Mo. – The City of Blue Springs, the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) and District 2 City
Councilmen Sissy Reed and Kent Edmondson will host a second open house-style public meeting on Thursday,
November 19, to share plans for Woods Chapel Road Improvements from I-70 to south of Briarwood Drive. The project
team, TranSystems of Kansas City, Mo., will be on hand to answer questions from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at Valley View High
School, 5000 NW Valley View Road, Blue Springs, MO 64015.

The City of Blue Springs encourages anyone who uses this route to stop by, review preliminary plans, share project
issues and concerns, and provide written comments at the public meeting. No formal presentations will be made.

For questions or additional information, visit www.bluespringsgov.com/woodschapel or contact the Blue Springs
Engineering Department at (816) 228-0121.

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CITY OF BLUE SPRINGS, MISSOURI
MEDIA ADVISORY
903 W. Main Street Blue Springs, MO 64015 P: 816.228.0110 F: 816.228.7592 W: www.bluespringsgov.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DATE: November 5, 2009, 2009
CONTACT: Merideth Parrish, Public Information Officer
Phone: 816.655.0497, Cell: 816.935.4176
Email: mparrish@bluespringsgov.com
Open House Public Meeting Scheduled for
Woods Chapel Road Improvements, November 12, 2009

Blue Springs, Mo. – The City of Blue Springs and the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) will host an open
house-style public meeting on Thursday, November 12, to share plans for Woods Chapel Road Improvements from I-70
to south of Briarwood Drive. The project team, TranSystems of Kansas City, Mo., will be on hand to answer questions
from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. at the Howard L. Brown Safety Building, Multi-purpose Room, 1100 SW Smith St., Blue Springs,
MO 64015.

The City of Blue Springs and MoDOT encourage anyone who uses this route to stop by, review preliminary plans, share
project issues and concerns, and provide written comments at the public meeting. No formal presentations will be made.
For questions or additional information, visit www.bluespringsgov.com/woodschapel or contact the Blue Springs
Engineering Department at (816) 228-0121.

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This evening Wanda and I went shopping at Target in Blue Springs!  It is hard to believe that four and one-half years have passed since the first time I had the opportunity to meet with a Target representative about bringing a Target Store to our community.  Since then the efforts of many people have resulted in the opening of the first store at Adams Dairy Landing.

First Wal-Mart, then Home Depot, then Coronado Place’s bank, restaurants, and stores, and now Target.  With dozens more yet to come, Blue Springs is suddenly hopping with business.

As the development work continues on Adams Dairy Landing, it is important that we all remember to patronize these businesses even when it might be inconvenient.  From October 12 to 14 this coming week, Coronado Drive will be closed for final construction.  To get to Wal-Mart or Home Depot you will need to enter from R.D. Mize road, the back entrances to both of these businesses.  For the businesses in Coronado Place you should approach from Mock Avenue or Sunnyside Road and enter from the west entrance by Sports City.

Please keep these businesses in mind and make a special effort to get out and patronize them during the construction.  We want to show all of our new businesses that we are happy they have chosen to do business in our city!

As much as I enjoy writing these articles, at times life gets in the way. Recently, Wanda and I traveled to Las Vegas to visit our daughter Crystal, stopping along the way to see the Grand Canyon. We returned home and have helped care for my father following his quadruple bypass surgery at St Luke’s Hospital last week. Thank you for the support and prayers from so many of our friends on his behalf. I was also touched knowing that many of you missed this column while we were gone.

I attended the Blue Springs City Council work session Monday evening. These meetings are designed for the council to discuss issues that are under consideration and for future plans and concerns to be brought up for evaluation. The meetings are open to the public, but not yet televised. I strongly encourage Mayor Ross and the council to begin televising these meetings. It would be another step toward transparency for our local government!

Many of you will be happy to hear that the council is working on the details of the Woods Chapel Road improvements that you approved in 2008.

Some of the items included in this plan are: placing signals at the intersection of Briarwood and Castle Drive; sidewalks and bike lanes as the roadway is improved; expansion of the Valley View Drive intersection; and the South Outer Road relocated further south to allow better traffic flow onto Woods Chapel and to the surrounding businesses.

Most exciting will be the conversion of the I-70 Interchange to a Diverging Diamond Interchange, the 2^nd of this design in the United States. This new concept in interchange layout will move morning and afternoon traffic efficiently on and off of I-70 for traffic volumes projected as far into the future as 2030. An example of this type of interchange is up and running in Springfield at the intersection of MO-13 and I-44 http://tinyurl.com/ddinterchange.

We all recognize that the wheels of government often turn slowly. But, when progress is encouraged and allowed to develop, good things happen. The plans for these improvements should be complete by early 2010, with bids going out by the end of 2010. Construction will begin in 2011 with anticipated completion by 2013. My compliments to Mayor Ross and the City Council for continuing to move this important project forward!

One final thought on Woods Chapel. Let’s not forget to patronize the businesses along this corridor as road construction and necessary improvements may make it more difficult to access them in the future. While this will be a short term inconvenience, the long term benefits will allow this north-south artery to be a more welcoming Western gateway to our city.

This evening (June 1, 2009) the Blue Springs City Council will be considering the early issuance of bonds to allow the Adams Dairy Landing project to continue to progress towards completion.  They will also be considering changes to the Planned Unit Development for the Oaks at Woods Chapel where a possible grocery store is again in the works for western Blue Springs.  I am looking forward to the debate!

Over the predictable objections of Councilmen Ron Fowler and Sheila Solon, who represent the residents of southern Blue Springs in District 3, the City Council voted 4-2 to continue to advance the Adams Dairy Landing project.

RED Development asked the council to consider allowing the issuance of bonds to pay for the street improvements earlier than originally anticipated and to allow the bond underwriters to consider the city’s credit rating when selling the bonds. It should be noted that this isn’t without risk, but city staff worked very conscientiously to mitigate that risk and put multiple layers of protection into the plan should sales tax revenue decline further.

While I doubt anyone was surprised by the comments of the various councilmen, given the history of this project, I was baffled by Councilman Solon’s comments as she read from a script. As I watched the meeting on the city Web site – http://tinyurl.com/bscouncil – I observed Councilman Solon tracing each word in her statement with her finger as she stated her opposition to the proposal. You might ask, what is wrong with that? It shows that she is prepared when she comes to the meeting.

Councilman Solon has long been praised by some of her constituents for coming to meetings well prepared. However, Dan Lowe, president of RED Development, was so surprised by her misstatements that he reapproached the podium and said to her, “In my opinion your comments may be a bit half-baked and certainly aren’t on target.” He went on to outline point by point the inaccuracies she was using to justify her vote. Based on the information provided in the meeting, Mr. Lowe was right on target with his comments.

The concern in this situation, as I see it, is that by pre-determining her position and writing her statement before hearing the full presentation, Councilman Solon’s statement no longer reflected the facts, making her position on the issue look arbitrary. This is the kind of behavior that results in lawsuits and wastes taxpayer money, as recently occurred on the Parkway West project. This is not a new behavior with Councilman Solon, as misstatements and a failure to follow the city attorney’s advice almost resulted in her removal from the Planning Commission several years ago.

In the end, the calm voice of reason was Councilman Kent Edmondson. He did an excellent job of describing the risks and benefits that the council was considering, and showed that he carefully, and without prior prejudice, weighed risk versus reward. His thorough evaluation indicated that the benefits far outweighed the risks in considering this resolution. In the end the council made the right decision to keep the project moving forward.

CITY OF BLUE SPRINGS, MISSOURI
MEDIA ADVISORY

903 W Main Street Blue Springs, MO 64015 |  P: 816.228.0110 |  F: 816.228.7592 | 
W: www.bluespringsgov.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DATE: April 9, 2009

CONTACT: Merideth Parrish, Public Information Officer

Phone: 816.655.0497, Cell: 816.935.4176

Email: mparrish@bluespringsgov.com

Blue Springs to Begin 2009 Street Rehabilitation Program

Blue Springs, Mo. – The City of Blue Springs will soon begin its 2009 street rehabilitation program which involves milling, patching and overlay on approximately 15 miles of residential streets in Blue Springs.

The 2009 street program is administered by the City’s Engineering Department and will be executed jointly with contractor, Superior Bowen Asphalt Company of Kansas City, Missouri.

“Each year the City identifies capital improvement projects such as street maintenance and rehabilitation through its Capital Improvements Program (CIP)” says Public Works Director Oliver DeGrate, III. “This year’s CIP again identified street rehabilitation as a key priority of both the City Council and the residents of our community. The 2009 street program is a reflection of the City’s efforts to respond to these priorities with visible action and results.”

The project map for the 2009 street program indicates which streets are scheduled for maintenance this year, barring any unforeseen circumstances. This map can be viewed through the City’s website at www.bluespringsgov.com/09streets.

Residents living on streets scheduled for maintenance will receive a door hanger prior to any street work which will include instructions for the period in which work will be performed. The maintenance process involves 3 steps. The first step is milling, a process which grinds down about two inches of existing roadway to make room for the new asphalt. Second, if needed, asphalt patching will be completed. Finally, the new asphalt driving surface will be placed. The entire process should be completed within approximately one week on most streets.

Residents should expect some traffic delays and are asked to avoid active work areas if at all possible. All work scheduled for the 2009 street program should be completed by summer 2009. The City of Blue Springs extends its thanks in advance for the community’s cooperation during this project. For questions or additional information, contact the Blue Springs Engineering Department at (816) 228-0121.

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