The City of Shawnee, Kansas, council members, and McClure Engineering Company (MEC), Terracon, and Landworks Studio celebrated the opening of the Clear Creek Parkway with a ribbon cutting ceremony on Tuesday, Nov. 14. The new roadway that will now connect surrounding communities through current and planned residential, recreational and retail developments. Clear Creek Parkway will serve as a vital thoroughfare between Clare Road on the west with Hedge Lane Terrace to the east, and will not only supply motor vehicle connectivity within the corridor but will provide less overall maintenance over a 30-year period by being the City’s first complete concrete street.
The one-mile, three-lane road includes a roundabout with a golf cart underpass to accommodate the Shawnee Golf & Country Club Course as well as an LED lighting aesthetic that synchronizes with the K-7 bridge lighting design, a drainage diaphragm behind repaired dams to ensure the roadway remains dry under all circumstances and much more.
The overall project roadway design was coordinated through a collaborative partnership among City staff, Terracon, Landworks Studio, and MEC. According to Paul Lindstrom, the City of Shawnee project engineer, the project aligns with the City’s Street Standards and Circulation Plan to establish a unified street network to maximize traffic flow throughout the community and allow for future development.
“The project seems simple being in the middle of nowhere right now, but it still had challenges,” Lindstrom said. “Our main goal is to always provide opportunities for the community, and this project allows for future residential and retail development,” said Lindstrom.
The adjacent development interests were all critical in the development of a corridor that properly utilizes green street features, aligns with the community’s goals for growth, and demonstrates the City of Shawnee’s and MEC’s commitment to providing first-class infrastructure for residents of Shawnee. All of this was designed and constructed on time and on budget.
