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Residents question Bates Road bike-lane plan; aldermen order traffic counts
Summary
A resident urged the Board of Aldermen to reconsider removing a third lane on Bates Road for bike lanes and to verify vehicle counts; the board voted to deploy traffic counters and discussed whether to fund a fuller traffic study tied to a federal STBG grant.
Public comment and council discussion at the Darden Prairie meeting focused on whether Bates Road should lose a vehicle lane in favor of bike lanes and whether the project scope should proceed under a federal STBG grant.
Resident Mike Wooldridge told the board he watches the corridor daily and sees "lucky if I see 1 or 2 bikes" and said, "I just don't think it's appropriate to remove that third lane for bike lanes." He disputed the bike-traffic numbers cited in the grant application and said changes intended to connect a trail to Town Square were unlikely to be used for routine errands.
During new business the city attorney read Bill 25-42, an ordinance authorizing the city administrator to execute a STBG program agreement with the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission for Bates Road Phase 1 (STBG-5407). Council members debated whether the traffic data used to justify lane configuration was stale and whether an updated traffic study should be completed before altering the project scope. Staff said the project timeline places design by January and noted that if the scope removes the proposed bike/ped elements the city could lose grant funding; they also said a study is normally included with design but counters could be deployed sooner.
After discussion the board approved a motion to deploy traffic counters on Bates Road to gather current counts; staff said the county could place counters quickly and that doing counts now would inform any later, grant-funded study. No final decision on lane configuration was made at the meeting; the action was limited to collecting up-to-date traffic data before the board alters the project scope.
