KSHB 41 reporter Marlon Martinez covers Platte and Clay counties in Missouri. Share your story idea with Marlon.
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After months of ongoing public engagement, Parkville leaders have officially selected a plan to redesign Highway 9, a move they say will ease congestion and make one of the city’s busiest corridors safer.
The city’s new concept would shift Highway 9 south of the current alignment, running it along the railroad tracks and behind the Southern Platte Fire Protection District station before reconnecting to Main Street.
City officials say the goal is to improve traffic flow and reduce the risk of accidents along the stretch.
“I think Parkville has always been in need of a facelift,” said Leon Versfeld, co-owner of Prima Facie, a restaurant just feet from the highway.
Versfeld is hopeful for safer access to his business.
“The area right in front of Prima has caused so many different accidents and different traffic flow that the need for a change is desperate,” he said.
But the plan has created new questions for Southern Platte firefighters across the street. Interim Chief Deputy Ralph Nell says the current concept could limit access in and out of the station during emergencies.
“With the amount of space that's right there — the unknown of the railroad right away, the three lane road — it does not leave much property for the fire district to go through,” Nell said.
Traffic backups during peak hours are already a challenge, and he’s worried the redesign will only make it worse.
“There is those peak hours. Early in the morning, traffic starts backing up, that makes it difficult for us sometimes to get in and out,” Nell said. “That's the reason we're trying to do drive-thru bays, is because we don't want an issue — some of our guys in and out in the street with their truck backing up and cars trying to go around.”
In a statement to KSHB 41, Parkville Mayor Dean Katerndahl acknowledged those concerns.
“Change always brings its challenges and can be painful, but we are here for the long run,” Katerndahl said.
He added the city is committed to working with the fire district and nearby businesses to ensure the project moves forward with "minimal disruption."
City officials confirmed no buildings will need to be demolished for the redesign.
The project remains in the engineering phase, with construction not expected to begin until 2027.
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