Southeast Douglas Street Project

Project Update

The first public meeting for the Southeast Douglas Street Project was on July 10. Both in-person and online feedback was collected, and while some feedback covered different topics, some of the main concerns were regarding tree removal and parallel parking along Southeast Douglas Street.

  1. Existing Tree Evaluation
    • A third-party International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) Certified Arborist, also holding an ISA Tree Risk Assessment Qualification, has conducted an independent evaluation of each tree located within or adjacent to the public right-of-way. This evaluation included:
      • Tree Size – measured dimensions to assess age and structural characteristics.
      • Species Identification – determining whether each tree is desirable or considered
        invasive/undesirable.
      •  Health Condition – evaluating overall vigor, presence of disease, pests, or structural defects.
      • General Condition – considering location, site impacts, and long-term survivability.
    • In addition to the arborist’s evaluation, the tree species were also compared to two other publications: Great Trees for the Kansas City Region, a study and publication by the Kansas City area tree experts, and the Missouri Botanical Garden’s not-recommended street trees list.
    • Evaluations of the trees within the City’s right-of-way are summarized below (it does not include the 60+ trees on private property that the project is not impacting):
  2. Due to the above evaluation and interference with the installation and preservation of the proposed infrastructure, all the trees in the right-of-way will be removed as part of the project. Two are optional to be transplanted. The parallel parking option discussed below does not affect the number of trees that will be removed.
    • To restore the tree canopy in the corridor, the project will be offering up to 73 new trees selected by a landscape architect from the Great Trees list for the KC region. The species chosen were presented at the public meeting on July 10.
    • The size of the trees planted will be based on several factors, including larger size, availability from nurseries and likelihood of survival.
  3. Parallel Parking
    • At the public meeting, the proposed design included an 8-foot-wide parallel parking lane located on the northeast side of Southeast Douglas Street, extending from Southeast Fourth Street to south of Southeast Seventh Street. This parking lane was introduced to:
      • Provide additional parking opportunities for homeowners with single-car driveways.
      • Allow emergency vehicles, service providers, and deliveries to safely stop along SE Douglas Street
        without blocking traffic.
      • Part of Southeast Douglas Street allows on-street parking today.

Survey

Open till Sept. 29.

The City and design team would like to hear from you regarding which blocks you would support parallel parking. Adding or removing the parallel parking does not change the number of trees impacted by the project.

  • Southeast Fourth Street to Southeast Fifth Street
    • The parallel parking will remain in this block.
  • Southeast Fifth Street to Southeast Sixth Street
    • Option A: Parking Lane
    • Option B: No Parking Lane
  • Southeast Sixth Street to Southeast Seventh Street
    • Option A: Parking Lane
    • Option B: No Parking Lane
  • Southeast Seveth Street to Southeast Blue Parkway
    • The parallel parking has already been removed for this segment, as there is no on-street parking.

Participate in the Survey