QuikTrip wants to open at one of KC’s busiest intersections. Some neighbors concerned
QuikTrip — already a high-traffic draw with its mix of gas station, convenience store and fast-food kitchen — has long eyed one of the busiest intersections in Kansas City.
Now the Tulsa-based chain is proposing a store at 39th Street and Southwest Trafficway. It would demolish a corner building at 3822 Summit St. (alongside Southwest Trafficway) and construct a new store on the site, according to the Volker Neighborhood Association.
QuikTrip representatives were meeting with adjacent property owners this week.
However, Patrick Faltico, president of the Volker Neighborhood Association, said the bulk of residents he has heard from are against the plan. They have concerns about traffic flow, loitering, trash and petty crime. And they say the market is already well served with a newly expanded QuikTrip nearby on Westport Road.
In a statement, Aisha Jefferson-Smith, spokeswoman for QuikTrip Corporation, said: “Our goal is to meet with the community and listen. We want to be a part of the community and we want to be good neighbors. Opening dates have not yet been determined.”
The surrounding neighborhoods successfully fought against a plan to build a QuikTrip at 33rd and Southwest Trafficway in 2014.
The Roanoke Homes Association also is opposed to the plan. In a statement, the association said: “This intersection is already a nightmare. ... Moreover, the new location would likely divert traffic onto nearby residential streets where speeding cars are already a threat. ... A QuikTrip at proposed location would also butt up against homes in the designated Historic Neighborhood District of Roanoke, no doubt lowering the value of property there.”
Kevin Klinkenberg, who runs the nonprofit community and economic development agency Midtown KC Now, said many local residents want midtown to be less car-centric. With the KC Streetcar expansion planned to run down Main Street, community leaders want to see more development aimed at pedestrians and mass transit, not automobiles, he said.
For example, the city does not allow the construction of new gas stations or drive-thru restaurants along Main Street.
“Generally speaking in midtown we have tried to get away from an auto-oriented approach to our communities and to our streets,” he said.
Midtown Now KC typically doesn’t work in the neighborhood where QuikTrip plans to build, but Klinkenberg himself lives nearby.
“I think there’s probably pretty strong feelings from a lot of the neighborhood people that a gas station use of any kind is just not what they want to see on that corner or in that corridor,” he said. “QuikTrip is a wonderful business and they’re very very popular and there’s no question it would bring a lot more car traffic to that corner.”
Aside from being known for its narrow lanes and quirky intersections that don’t allow left turns — to keep the six lanes flowing — Southwest Trafficway has also been identified as particularly dangerous for cyclists and pedestrians.
In January, a well-known bicyclist died after being struck by a car while crossing Southwest along Valentine Road. His death renewed calls from cycling advocates and some city council members to make the trafficway safer for all users, but no major changes have been made.
This story was originally published December 3, 2020 at 12:53 PM.
