No left turn? Flub in road design frustrates library patrons, but a fix is coming

It sounds like an episode of NBC’s “Dateline” news magazine: The Curious Case of the Vanishing Left Turn Lanes. Except it’s not a true crime story. This tale centers around a road construction project and a Lee’s Summit library branch and includes the city of Lee’s Summit, Mid-Continent Public Library and a local developer.

Late last summer, patrons of the Colbern Road Mid-Continent Public Library began to notice that entering the 32-year-old library location from the west was no longer possible after the construction of a new road leading to the site of a soon-to-be-developed convenience store/gas station north of Colbern Road and west of the library.

Determined library-goers can drive past the Mid-Continent branch and make an illegal U-turn at a nearby stop light or turn around via the church or school parking lots east of the library.

Those exiting the library parking lot and heading east face a similar challenge, with their left-turn lane now also blocked by a traffic island. Only right turns are possible, and eastward travelers are forced to head west and make a potentially risky U-turn on busy Colbern Road or turn around in another parking lot.

It wasn’t long before these library-goers began contacting both library officials and the city of Lee’s Summit to inquire about the vanishing left-turn lanes. Bob Johnson, Mid-Continent Public Library Board member and a former Lee’s Summit City Council member, was among those reaching out to the city.

“I even called and said, ‘Did you know that there’s not really a way to get in and out of the library?’” Johnson said.

But over the past few months, the library, developer and city have joined and developed a workable solution to provide new entrances and exits for library patrons. The plan calls for the newly constructed road, just west of the library, to offer entrances from both the west and east, as well as exits also going both directions. A new stoplight for this intersection is also in the works, according to city of Lee’s Summit officials.

“If you’re honest about it, the developer, Mid-Continent Public Library and the city made some errors,” Johnson said. “It wasn’t a big project and no one really communicated with all three entities at the same time. Small project, no questions, no problems.

“Then when it came together, it was like, ‘Oh my, you can’t turn into the library parking lot.’”

Jim Staley, Mid-Continent community relations and planning director, added that the library team is working with the city to create two new entrances to the Colbern Road Library center. This facility is one of three destination branches among the system’s 33 libraries and offers additional services, as well as several community rooms and a coffee shop.

“These plans are currently being fast-tracked through the city planning process,” Staley said, “and once they are approved, construction is expected to take about three weeks. However the exact start date will depend on contractor availability and weather.”

The new stoplight will also provide for better traffic flow, especially for library visitors attempting to exit the library and turn left onto the well-traveled Colbern Road.

Heartland Market, the new convenience store/gas station to be located just west of the library, is expected to generate significant traffic, which warrants the new traffic signal, said Cheryl Nash, director of creative services at the city of Lee’s Summit.

“Traffic signals cannot be too closely spaced and existing Rice Road is too close to the interchange for a new signal installation,” she added.

When the project is complete, Johnson said, the existing library entrances located directly in front of the library will go away and be replaced by the new entrance, complete with stoplight, with traffic entering the library parking lot near the library’s northwest side.

“We’re very appreciative of our friends at the city working so quickly on this and think customers will be happy with the final outcome,” Staley said.

This story was originally published January 8, 2025 at 4:00 AM.