A study to help plan future improvements for the Parkville area along Missouri Highway 9 will be underway soon thanks to a federal grant.

According to a press release, the Mid-America Regional Council awarded a $113,586 grant to the City of Parkville to assist in the completion of a Route 9 Corridor study.

In order to receive the grant, the City of Parkville contributed $15,000 and Park University gave $10,000. The City of Riverside, the Missouri Department of Transportation and Platte County also donated funds. A total of $75,000 was collected from the five cities and organizations – which are now Parkville’s funding partners. The partnership is a requirement to obtain enough matching funds for the study.

“This program has a minimum match requirement of 20 percent,” said Ron Achelpohl, MARC’s director of transportation and environment. “So, for every four dollars of federal funds you spend, you need another dollar of non-federal to match that.”

The city had two grant-funded planning studies – the Livable Community study and Vision Downtown Parkville study – in 2013.

“Vision Downtown Parkville was funded by a Planning and Sustainable Places grant and that’s the same pool of grant funding that we went after for the Route 9 project,” said Lauren Palmer, Parkville city administrator. “Our Vision Downtown Parkville study identified that the next step would be to do a corridor study for Route 9, to do a deeper level of design for improvements along that stretch of highway.”

MARC, the counsel of governments and metropolitan planning organizations for the Kansas City area, and their Creating Sustainable Places department administered the application process, which kicked off last summer.

According to MARC, 27 proposals for projects were submitted but only 13 were chosen.

“Parkville was a very competitive (applicant) and was selected for funding,” said Achelpohl.

The study, which is expected to begin in April, will take place on Missouri Highway 9 from Missouri Highway 45 to Horizons Parkway. The study should not inconvenience commuters who travel on Missouri Highway 9, said Palmer.

“The way that they constructed the project, they wanted to work on Route 9 beyond just Parkville and actually connect with Riverside so that it would be a plan that addressed a larger area,” said Beth Dawson MARC’s senior land use planner.

According to Palmer, the $15,000 contribution was a valuable move for Parkville.

“That $15,000 is less than 10 percent of the entire project budget,” she said. “So, for a 10 percent investment, we are getting a level of preliminary design for a major transportation improvement that’s a key corridor through our community and is one of the top transportation priorities identified for Parkville. So, that investment is a smart way to leverage our dollars.”

Parkville Mayor Nan Johnston echoed Palmer’s comments.

“Route 9 is a top transportation priority for Parkville and this funding will help us take the next step toward implementing vital improvements along the corridor,” stated Johnston in the press release.

The results of a corridor study will shine light on ways Parkville and Riverside can improve the highway as well as understand how it serves drivers, bicyclists and even pedestrians.

As far as Park University’s involvement, their location on Missouri Highway 9 may have made the donation worthwhile.

“This is the front door entrance to Park U,” said Palmer. “And, the leadership there felt like this was important to make sure that the improvements along this corridor and the plan for the corridor serve Park University, serve the student population (and) are complementary to the vision of Park. We share that desire at the city so it’s a good partnership.”