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Leawood resident urges city to consider 'street diet' and lower speed limit on 90 Fifth Street
Summary
A Leawood resident told the council she supports a 'street diet' for 103rd Street but urged the city to apply similar safety improvements to 90 Fifth Street, citing heavy traffic, sight-line concerns and frequent sidewalk use by pedestrians and children.
Heather Curry, a Leawood resident of 9440 High Drive, addressed the council during public comment July 21 to ask the city to consider traffic-calming changes on a residential arterial she identified as "90 Fifth Street." She told the council she supports the planned street diet on 103rd Street between State Line and Mission Road but said the 90 Fifth Street corridor carries more traffic and has sight-line issues where driveways and hills make left turns hazardous.
Curry said the stretch of "90 Fifth Street" through Leawood is primarily residential, with about 30 driveways directly accessing the street, and that sidewalks run adjacent to the road and are used by children, dog walkers and people on bicycles. She said the posted 35 mph speed limit often is not observed and urged the council to consider either a striped street diet with a center turn lane and bike lanes or, if that is not feasible, an ordinance reducing the limit to 25 mph for the mile-long segment.
Curry also asked the council to prioritize the safety of Leawood residents over the convenience of through traffic from neighboring cities. Mayor Mark Elkins thanked Curry and said the council would refer her comments to Public Works Director David Lay for consideration.
Why this matters: The request highlights resident concerns about traffic speeds, pedestrian safety and the tradeoffs in allocating city traffic-calming resources; the item was referred to Public Works for study and response.
Provenance: Public comment begins on the meeting’s citizens-comments portion; Curry’s remarks are recorded at transcript segment starting at 462.58 and council referral to Public Works appears immediately afterward (transcript segment starting at 738.805).
