KSHB 41 reporter Claire Bradshaw covers portions of Jackson County, including areas like Blue Springs and Independence. If you have a story idea to share, send an email to Claire at claire.bradshaw@kshb.com.
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The city of Grandview is entering the final stage of its Main Street extension project.
No, the city isn’t physically extending Main Street another mile. Instead, it's extending the infrastructure and beautification improvements for a few more blocks.
From Main and 7th to 3rd streets, the city is resurfacing streets and working on stormwater updates.
From 5th to 3rd streets, the sidewalks will be widened to provide more outdoor dining, adding more landscaping and new street lights.
At 514 Main Street, a grassy land plot will become a multi-use market building to house the farmers market and other events.
While construction means growing pains, the city and nearby businesses are preparing to minimize the impact.
"We will maintain two lanes of traffic, which is what we have here now throughout the length of the project. So at times, it's going to be a little noisy, a little dusty in front of the existing businesses,” said Doug Wesselschmidt, Grandview’s public works director.
John Holloway owns Holloway’s Motorcycle Services.
Even though he will have to deal with sidewalk construction in front of his building for a while, he said he is excited about the increased focus on his slice of Main Street.
“I’m excited for it, for a lot of reasons. There's a lot of traffic here. There's lots of exposure," Holloway said. "What's interesting is, when I opened, I paid for billboards and signage and whatnot, and I found it, this is my best advertising right here on the corner. That's how much traffic I'd get."
The city said improvements should be done by the end of 2024, and the market building will hopefully be ready by June 2025.
The $1 million project is funded by a No Tax Increase Bond package voters approved in 2022.
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