Neighbors and other stakeholders got an update and offered their feedback on Emanuel Cleaver II Boulevard streetscape improvements. The project includes the removal of street parking, the addition of bike lanes, and storm planters to filter pollutants during rainstorms. Scott Bingham explained conceptual drawings at a meeting yesterday evening.
Emanuel Cleaver II Boulevard – that section of street that runs in front of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art – is getting a facelift.
In fact, Cleaver Boulevard from Rockhill to the Paseo will get a “recognizable identity,” according to the project manager helping to plan the changes.
Scott Bingham of Bowman Bowman and Novick (BBN) told those gathered for a project update yesterday that stakeholders told the planning team in the beginning of the project Cleaver Boulevard should be “elevated to a boulevard standard,” giving it a more commanding presence appropriate for a street that is much used by both residents and tourists.
Bingham also said the project team knew how important it was to preserve the historic stone walls along the street, and those walls will remain as they have been for decades.
One of the main features of the new plan calls for taking out street parking, and reducing the width of outer traffic lanes to make room for bike lanes.
The street will also get new lighting, upgraded pedestrian crossings, and new solar-lit buses shelters.
Bingham also said the project includes the use of nine storm planters. These planters intercept water when a rainstorm begins, he explained, and route the water through a mixture of soil and plant roots that filters out pollutants.
The project is expected to begin in March and be completed in the fall.
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Learn about “road diet,” other improvements to Cleaver Boulevard
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