The last week or so, a few people have asked me why QuikTrip would want to build a store at 39th and Southwest Trafficway, in the middle of a residential neighborhood. Well, there are 72,818 good reasons.
According to the Kansas City Public Works Department, that was the average daily traffic volume at the intersection as of April 2017.
That made it the busiest intersection in all of Kansas City. The second busiest intersection is not far away, 31st and Southwest Trafficway, which handled an average volume of 71,384 vehicles a day.
Are you interested in knowing the third busiest intersection? Of course you are…75th and Ward Parkway, where the daily count was 53,347.
When it comes to selecting locations, I don’t think QuikTrip spends a lot of time analyzing whether a store is going to change a neighborhood or create traffic problems. As Patrick Faltico, president of the Volker Neighborhood Association, told me, “They’ve got an algorithm that says, ‘We’ll make money here.’ ”
As I’ve said before, QuikTrip is the best convenience store I’ve ever seen. The restrooms are almost always in good shape, the gas prices are the lowest in town and the clerks count money as fast as bank clerks.
Another thing: I won’t stop patronizing QT if they win the battle to build at 39th and Southwest Trafficway. I’m not switching to Phillips 66, 7-Eleven or Fast Stop. None compares with QT.
But like about 99.9 percent of the people living in the neighborhoods in that area — Volker, Roanoke and Coleman Highlands — I’m dead set against this proposal.
QuikTrip’s attorney, Patricia Jensen, of the politically connected law firm Rouse Frets White Goss Gentile Rhodes, has had an initial meeting with officials in the City Planning & Development Department, but she had not submitted a plan as of Thursday.
There were, however, two noteworthy developments Thursday:
- The influential organization Historic Kansas City came out with a strongly worded and colorfully written release opposing the QT proposal.
- At a Zoom meeting with Midtown KC Now (formerly MainCor), 4th District at-large Councilwoman Katheryn Shields, although not stating outright opposition, said she was “very aware” of the neighborhoods’ strong opposition and understood the concerns.
Historic Kansas City’s release — signed by Lisa Lassman Briscoe, executive director, and Greg Allen, president — started like this…
For over 45 years, Historic Kansas City has worked for the advancement and protection of the scenic and historic assets of Kansas City. The community and economic revival power of historic places is demonstrated and real, and in the bedrock of it all is historic neighborhoods. Beginning with the back-to-the-city movement of the 1970s and over ensuing decades, the City’s prospects and future have greatly depended on the health of our neighborhoods. Intrusions and disruptive uses in or adjacent to our prized neighborhoods are to be avoided at all costs.
It ended like this…
We look to City government to join with so many citizens who reject this proposal. QuikTrip has untapped markets and unmet demands many places in the City — they need not be a menace to historic places. We applaud the neighborhoods for their leadership and urge all who love this City to lend their support.
Lisa Briscoe
Briscoe is no newcomer to thorny development issues. For 15 years she was a division manager in the City Planning & Development Department, and she later was administrator of the Kansas City Landmarks Commission.
She nailed it when she referred to a QuikTrip at 39th and the Trafficway as “a menace to historic places.” That’s a line that resonates and could become the rally cry.
As for Shields, she told me earlier this week she had not taken a position and was in the “fact-finding stage.” However, at the Midtown KC Now meeting she seemed to move closer to opposition. “It gets to be a question of how many QuikTrips do you need,” she said.
Good point. To be sure, QT already has three stores within a 5-minute drive of 39th and the Trafficway. The closest one is at Westport Road and Mercier. Another is at 44th and Main. The third is at 31st Street and Southwest Boulevard.
**
It will be interesting to watch Shields and her in-district counterpart, Eric Bunch, on this issue. They are pivotal because it is hard to imagine a Council majority voting to approve the proposal if both of them come down in opposition.
Shields and Bunch make for an interesting contrast.
Katheryn Shields
At 74, Shields is the oldest Council member, and this could well be her last go-round as an elected official. She is in her fourth Council term (although not consecutively), and she was Jackson County Executive from 1999 to 2006.
Over the years, she has received tens of thousands of dollars in political contributions from special interests — such as development attorneys — as well as having enjoyed widespread support at the neighborhood level. If she was younger and eyeing higher office, it would be more difficult for her to go against QT and the deep-pocketed Rouse Frets attorneys, including another former County Executive, Mike White, and a former assistant city attorney, Jim Bowers.
But now, with her political horizon getting short, she will be freer to do what’s “right” and go with the neighborhoods…What better way to go out than as a heroine to neighborhoods? She would leave with a trough full of political goodwill and a secure legacy.
Bunch, on the other hand, is probably the youngest Council member. He’s about 38, and this is his first elective office. In 2019, he ran a low-financed, grass roots campaign and defeated a fire fighter named Geoff Jolley, who appeared to be the favorite.
Eric Bunch
Bunch has all the hallmarks of a champion of neighborhoods. He is an urban planner by trade; he lives in Midtown, near 36th and Wyandotte; he co-founded BikeWalkKC; and, naturally, he is an avid biker.
With his background, it would surprise me if he ended up siding with QuikTrip. So far, however, he’s keeping quiet. I have called and emailed his Council assistant, and Thursday I emailed him directly. No response.
He won’t be able to hide very long, though. This issue is already nearing the boiling point, even before QT has submitted a formal plan.
Where are you, Eric? Are you going to stand with the neighbors or the big corporation based in Tulsa?
Fitz, I spoke to my dad yesterday and he too had read about this proposal. He told me that Southwest Trafficway was L.P. Cookingham’s “one and only” mistake as city manager. He also said that Quik Trip does listen to citizens and has a history of making concessions to get approval. He pointed to the Quik Trip at 45th and Main. I still don’t know how this QT at 39th and SW Trafficway can operate without creating some incredible traffic tie-ups, but I guess we shall see.
Mike, I have all the admiration in the world for your dad, longtime activist Jim Rice, a Northland resident, but Southwest Trafficway is a blessing, not a curse. Can you imagine how those 70,000 vehicles a day would clog other arterials like Broadway, Main, Gillham and Troost in the absence of the Trafficway?
With the Trafficway being the most important and heavily used north-south artery in town, the most important thing is keeping the traffic moving as smoothly as possible. Recently, there’s been some construction work in two of the three northbound lanes, and it has been a mess at times. (I haven’t traveled it in the morning rush since those lanes have been closed, but I imagine it’s a nightmare then.)
Keeping the traffic moving and preventing “intrusions and disruptive uses in or adjacent to our prized neighborhoods,” as Lisa Briscoe wrote…those are the issues at play here.
I think my dad was referring more to the way the neighborhoods were separated by the construction of SW Trafficway. Obviously, the post-war growth in south Kansas City and development of Johnson County made such a thoroughfare a necessity. But it came with a price.
Fitz: You are right on the money about Q Trip — while a good convenience store, there are two major ones nearby this site. So why do we need another!
In working with Eric Bunch, I am confident he will oppose this effort on 39th and S.W. Trafficway. After all, he is all about alternatives to autos and has been very helpful in our development of The Netherland and Monarch apartment buildings near 39th and Main. The Netherland used to be the Hawthorne and was on the verge of city condemnation.
Eric has been very supportive of the expanded streetcar line having a major stop at 39th Street. No need to muck up the Trafficway with a convenience Store, especially since there is one at 44th and Main, with a stop nearby, for the streetcar at 43rd and Main.
As you know, in politics timing is EVERYTHING. At the right time, he will do the right thing, I believe.
That’s reassuring, coming from a friend, political insider and owner/operator of MR Capital Advisors. (I always think of you as “Mister” Capital.)
Merry Christmas 🎄 Jim and Patty from favorite other home in Florida 😎
Your welcome, continuing attention to this subject is a reminder of what great reporting looks like — and the importance of citizen participation in government.
Thanks, Vern. As a citizen-advocate, you are one of the best.
I am just laughing away over here in JOCO. My hip, super, liberal, let’s-hold-up-signs-down-by-ex-Nichols Fountain, Missouri cousins…
Whose streets? Our streets! Equity Now! Jobs! $15 minimum wage! Yes! No evictions! Bike lanes! Promote Urban density! Allies!
But wait, uh, not really, not here. Because, you know, we’re historic and everything.
Well down with HISTORY! Smash the patriarchy!
Face it, your political rhetoric don’t match your reality.
Ask yourself, “What economic, age, and social demographic groups would generally benefit from the new QT? Does this group match your alleged principles in supporting working people, equality and equity at a truly grassroots level? ”
Or is it about, you know, big houses?