Bonner Springs planning commission backs citywide connectivity and walkability plan

The Bonner Springs Planning Commission voted 5–0 to add the Bonner Springs Connectivity and Walkability Plan to the city comprehensive plan after a presentation from consultants and staff.

Neil Eisenberger, a planner and senior landscape architect with LJC, told the commission the plan maps existing sidewalks, trails and bicycle facilities; rates sidewalks on a 0–5 scale; and prioritizes projects that close gaps and improve safety. “We found that Bonner Springs is supported by a diverse network of neighborhoods, parks, schools and downtown destinations,” Eisenberger said, describing a data‑driven framework that ranks corridors by both impact and connectivity.

Eisenberger outlined five priority opportunity areas: a school‑district connection (the Bluegrass Trail near Pratt Avenue), a North Park–Lions Park connection, Front Street–Kump Avenue (including the Scheit Lane/railroad corridor), a connection to Wyandotte County Park and a Front Street–Lake of the Forest link. He said the plan recommends short‑term projects (0–3 years) to complete critical downtown sidewalk links, medium‑term projects (3–7 years) to extend connections and long‑term projects (7–10 years) to expand regional trail ties.

Staff said the plan resulted from a year of community engagement with a steering committee including local recreation, school and business representatives and that the consultant produced both a printed plan and a GIS database the city can use for grant applications. “The residents consistently identified missing sidewalks, disconnected trails and gaps in bicycle facilities as the community’s highest priority,” Eisenberger said.

A resident asked whether better regional connections — for example to Wyandotte County Park and Lake of the Forest — would bring people downtown and what projections exist for resulting downtown traffic. Eisenberger and staff said estimating increased downtown visits was outside the plan’s immediate scope but that the plan creates the technical foundation communities use to pursue grants and, later, conduct comparisons to similar projects to estimate footfall and vehicle impacts.

After discussion, the commission voted to include the walkability plan in the comprehensive plan; staff said the measure will go to the Bonner Springs City Council on Aug. 10 for final action.

What happens next: the plan provides a phasing and implementation roadmap that staff and consultants said will be used to seek grant matches from partners such as the Mid‑America Regional Council and the Kansas Department of Transportation. The council will decide whether to adopt the plan language into the comprehensive plan at its August meeting.