Ward Parkway neighbors weary of the festivals, races

A major street festival that will shut down a one-mile stretch of Ward Parkway on a Saturday in May has some neighborhood leaders in a decidedly unfestive mood.

In fact, they’re fed up.

They’re tired of all the races and runs that they feel are spoiling one of the most beautiful parts of town — stately homes, stunning landscaping, public fountains and sculptures.

The road closures, blocked driveways and big crowds are not part of the lifestyle they’ve invested in, and now this new event drops right in the middle of wedding and graduation season.

“We need a break,” said Armour Fields Homes Association board member Jane Parks Aylward, noting that her association of 788 homes from 65th Street to Gregory Boulevard, Wornall Road to Ward Parkway, already deals with at least four runs a year.

Another board member, John Murphy, agreed.

“They need to limit the events, and there are other parts of the city they can go,” he said. “What do residents get for all this aggravation?”

Residents of Armour Hills and Romanelli West also have expressed frustration about the anticipated inconvenience. And a group calling itself Citizens for Responsible Government said the event is a waste of federal taxpayer dollars.

The May 16 festival, Cycle in the City, is something new for Kansas City — an event designed to get people out of their cars, to experience Ward Parkway as the promenade it once was. And city officials hope it will showcase the parkway as one of the nation’s most beautiful boulevards.

“We are very respectful of the concerns raised and hope we come up with a good solution that everyone can agree to,” said Deb Ridgway, Kansas City’s bicycle and pedestrian coordinator, who is organizing Cycle in the City.

More broadly, a plan is underway to better coordinate all such outdoor festivals, parades and celebrations across the city.

Aylward and some other neighborhood leaders say they already deal with irate motorists, inconvenient detours, trash and noise during some races. They were particularly alarmed by a notification that Cycle in the City will shut down all six lanes of Ward Parkway between Meyer Circle and Gregory Boulevard for as long as eight hours on May 16. The event itself is planned from 2 to 5 p.m.

Details are still being worked out, and event organizers say it’s unlikely the parkway will be fully shut to traffic from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. They also say it would be a shame if neighborhood complaints overshadow a celebration that has been a huge hit in cities around the world and could be in Kansas City too.

“I hope we can resolve this,” Ridgway said. “I hate that this event is being used as the straw that breaks the camel’s back.”

Cycle in the City is being paid for with an $85,590 federal transportation grant, including money for event management, advertising and planned activities. Dan Coffey, spokesman for Citizens for Responsible Government, questioned that amount of spending for a “block party” when the city needs more money for basic services.

An email about the event, sent to surrounding neighborhoods, said it will “transform a portion of Ward Parkway from a motorized thoroughfare to a free, family-friendly open streets festival that encourages urban exploration through bicycling, walking, jogging, skating and playing.”

The idea began in Bogota, Colombia, in 1976 and since then has “exploded across the globe,” Ridgway said.

“You close down a segment of a city street and invite people to come out and play in the street,” she said, adding that it’s been successful in St. Louis, Portland and other U.S. cities.

She said Ward Parkway was chosen as the first location because it is such a signature street, but officials hope it will be an annual event attracting people from throughout the region and will move to other locations.

Parks director Mark McHenry said he realizes Kansas City is extremely “car-centric” but added that this is a chance for people to get out on foot, bike, skateboard or stroller, at least for one afternoon.

Parks board member Mary Jane Judy, who lives near Meyer Boulevard and Wornall Road, said she is sympathetic to neighborhood concerns and will work to alleviate them. A meeting between event organizers and neighborhood representatives is scheduled Thursday. But Judy thinks her family and many others will flock to the event.

“If I’m a 10-year-old kid, I think it would be pretty cool to ride up and down Ward Parkway,” she said.

Ridgway said details are still very preliminary but there will likely be ice cream trucks, maybe a bandstand, a rock wall and a chance to get up close and personal with the Meyer Circle fountain.

“How often do you get out of your car and interact with the fountain?” she said. “I enjoy when I whiz by it, but now you can stop and take a picture.”

Angry neighbors

Murphy of the Armour Fields Homes Association still has major questions, based on experience with past events.

In an email to O’Neill Marketing and Event Management, which will run the Cycle in the City event for the city, Murphy wrote, “I and a number of (homes associations) are concerned about this and the growing number of events that have become great inconveniences.”

In a telephone interview, Murphy said Ward Parkway is always busy on Saturdays and questioned how all that traffic will be rerouted smoothly through the neighborhoods and onto two-lane State Line Road.

Murphy said it’s fine for people to want to experience Ward Parkway’s beauty, but the neighborhoods don’t get enough in return. He pointed out that his association spends thousands of dollars in homeowner fees to mow eight islands, trim bushes, remove snow and help with fountain maintenance.

Murphy said it took him throwing a fit after the Kansas City marathon several years ago for the city to finally fix some of the race’s problems. Things have gotten better, he acknowledged, since Evenergy was hired to oversee and help coordinate all the foot runs in the city.

Kansas City has just bumped Evenergy’s contract from $50,000 to $130,000 and expanded duties to include oversight of all outdoor events.

Evenergy director Dave Steffano and Evenergy race manager Jenny Chronister said they have made neighborhood outreach a priority with races and now will with other events as well.

While Ward Parkway neighbors may feel besieged, Chronister said runs really happen all over the city. Of the 72 races she permitted last year, four were in the Brookside/Ward Parkway area: Rock the Parkway, the Trolley Trail run, the Kansas City Marathon and Strutt with Your Mutt.

She said the area around Theis Park, Downtown, the West Bottoms and the Crossroads also get frequent races. She continues to encourage race organizers to consider the Northland, which isn’t as saturated.

As for Cycle in the City, Keli O’Neill Wenzel, managing partner for O’Neill Events, said she will do everything she can to alleviate inconvenience. She lives in Brookside and understands the frustration.

Wenzel said she will make sure to reach out to homeowners who have Ward Parkway driveways that will be affected, as well as to churches with weddings that day.

She realizes this is a unique event that residents may view with trepidation. But she also believes many will embrace it enthusiastically.

This story was originally published March 10, 2015 at 7:12 PM with the headline "Ward Parkway neighbors weary of the festivals, races."