OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — The City of Overland Park has completed street reconstruction projects for years.
The Moody Hills and Southdale neighborhoods on the northern end of the city have been the focus this spring of repairs through the city's Neighborhood Reconstruction Program.
For the next few months, construction crews will work on intensive repairs, including upgrading sidewalks, storm sewers, streetlights, and replacing asphalt with concrete.
Patrick Watkins has lived in his home for more than 20 years.
Watkins saw what was coming when he took a bike ride through another neighborhood.
"I remember seeing it, stumbling across it, and thinking — what in the world are they doing? Replacing the street and it's all concrete now," Watkins said.
He is cautiously optimistic about the plans for the project.
Any trees that were in the path of the construction project were cut down, meaning some yards that once had aging, mature trees have temporary stubs.
The city will eventually replace the aging trees with trees and shrubs picked by a forester.
The tall oak tree that Watkins's kids used to decorate for the holidays is no longer blocking the sunlight coming through his home.
"It is odd and devastating when you look down the streets they've done and there are stumps where there used to be trees all the way down," he said. "There are still a lot remaining, so that's good, but it's just a little sad...that's part of the charm," he said.
The Kestersons go on a daily morning walk in the neighborhood.
The couple moved to the neighborhood about 41 years ago. While they still have many trees providing shade in the front yard, the initial attraction to the neighborhood was the tree canopy.
"Even our mailman says he misses the shade because the trees are gone," said Debbie Kesterson.
Her husband, Scott Kesterson, said some of the trees were already aging.
He's happy the city is allocating funds to fixing up "old" Overland Park.
"Well, the neighborhood is over 60 years old, so things are going wrong," he said. "Sidewalks were in bad shape, buckling where the tree roots were pushing up. "In the big picture, it's well worth it."
The construction is paid for using sales tax revenue from the city's capital improvements program.
According to the City of Overland Park's website, it can cost $3.6 million to build a mile of a typical residential street to engineering standards.
In 2023, voters approved a three-eighth-cent sales tax called "OP Moves".
The revenue generated from the tax is for improving city infrastructure, including maintenance and improvements to city streets and traffic management systems.
Meg Ralph, strategic communications director for the City of Overland Park, said the city regularly checks the pavement condition index, or the quality of a street and how it holds up to ice, snow, and summer heat.
“You might see a 60, 70, 80-year-old street completely rebuilt," Ralph said. "Really extends the life of that street a couple more generations.”
While Watkins and the rest of the neighborhood had to trade some canopies for concrete, he said the aging infrastructure probably needed to be replaced.
"I do know things get old. I've been in this house 20 years," he said. "I've replaced every window, time to replace the cabinets. Things wear out, streets wear out. I'm hoping this is a good, strategic, wise move for the long term because we aren't getting any younger. The city isn't getting any younger."
The Kestersons are looking forward to the new feel of their morning walks in the next several months.
Based on the city's current timeline, all phases of construction should be completed in the fall.
"Everything that's torn up, they're gonna fix," Debbie Kesterson said.
