BonnerSprings.com

One of the most pedestrian-unfriendly stretches of road in Bonner Springs may get its own walking path this summer.

At its workshop session Monday before the regular City Council meeting, Council member Rodger Shannon successfully argued for the completion of the southern half of a walking trail along 134th Street between Pioneer Drive and the road entrance to the swimming pool.

The first part of the planned trail stretching from Kansas Avenue south to Metropolitan Avenue was completed last summer, from the entrance of the Bonner Springs Aquatic Park to the corner of Linda Lane and Metropolitan. The north part of the trail leading from the park entrance wasn't completed because the bids from contractors had been more costly than had been anticipated when the trail was planned.

Shannon, who lives at 908 134th St., just south of Pioneer Drive, showed fellow Council members several photographs he took of the span of 134th Street from Pioneer Drive south to the road entrance to the Bonner Springs Aquatic Park at North Park.

The estimated $65,000 cost of the walking path that the Council gave City Manager John Helin the go-ahead on will mean the Parks Department will have to wait two years for a usable soccer field planned for North Park. That's because the money for the trail could have been used toward the soccer field's estimated $220,000 cost, as Helin had recommended. Parks director Skip Dobbs said the city would have to wait six months to a year after its completion to use it for games, because the ground needs to settle.

Shannon argued the road was already narrow as it is - he measured 22 feet wide at one end, and 18 feet at another -the area had too much traffic and too many pedestrians for the road to continue without a safe passage for pedestrians.

Shanon's photos included two that showed lines of sight seeming to measure a few hundred feet at most, which make the route a dangerous one for walkers, he said.

Shannon said he counted 300 residences in a radius of about a mile and a half of the approximately .4-mile stretch of road.

Rodgers said he walked the road every day, and just the previous day had passed a woman walking her dog, and when he drove by the woman stepped into the culvert beside the road.

Council member Larry Berg said he had never seen a pedestrian on that stretch of 134th Street, a statement Council member Jeff Harrington contradicted.

"I walk," said Harrington. "I'm amazed at the number of walkers on that road."

Council member Wayne Gray proposed completing the entire walking trail - adding the .4-mile span from Pioneer Drive to Kansas Avenue - which at an estimated cost of $140,000 would eat up the rest of the Parks dedication fund. Helin advised against using all the fund in order to have some reserves on hand, and the Council gave the city manager consensus to move forward with just the southern half of the trail.

Helin said he expected to send out requests for bids on the trail's construction this week.

In other actions, the Council:

¢ Gave consensus to Helin during its workshop session to use $159,000 previously set for the conversion of the current library space to a community room for the construction of an extension to the Public Works building for office space for that department and the Utilities department. See story this page.

¢ Approved claims for city operations for $644,234.

¢ Approved Public Housing Authority Claims for $25,395.

¢ Approved the reappointments of Rae Sedgwick and Carol Geary to the Drug and Alcohol Advisory Committee, and Don Wheeler, Dani Gurley and Etta Cox to the Band Commission.

¢ Approved $20,855 in funding recommendations of the Drug and Alcohol Advisory Committee. The funds will go to several different groups, including Project Graduation, Salvation Army, Wyandot Center for Behavioral Healthcare, the DARE festival, YMCA programs and the Bonner Springs Police Department.

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