Now that everyone’s in agreement, the realignment of Northwest Prairie View Road near the intersection of Interstate 29 can begin.

Two agreements were passed by the Kansas City Council on July 30 that allow for the city to pull Prairie View Road away from its cozy alignment with I-29 near their intersections with Northwest 64th Street. Officials said the move will create less vehicle congestion through the corridor.

Northwest 64th Street doubles as Missouri Highway 45, and the Municipal/Road Relinquishment Agreement between the city and the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission was a final hurdle before the road project could move forward. The agreement with the state and another agreement, a Cooperative Infrastructure Agreement between the city and the Park Plaza Transportation Development District, ensure the entire realignment will be finished within eight years.

Last year, the city’s Major Street Plan was modified to begin the rerouting process of Prairie View Road. The road’s curve away from the interstate will begin several thousand feet north of its current intersection with Highway 45. The design will swing Prairie View to the west of Prairie Business Center — north of Park Plaza commercial development — and become North Chatham Avenue. The TDD will be responsible for constructing the first 600 feet north of Highway 45 into the plaza while the city will be responsible for the rest of the three-lane road farther north.

"This ordinance will actually allow us to accomplish that," said Stan Harris, director of Public Works, of the Municipal/Road Relinquishment Agreement.

Jim Bower, attorney for the plaza’s owner, said he was hopeful the private improvements could begin as soon as mid-August.

Wes Minder, manager of capital planning for Public Works, said the project was financed and in the middle of the right-of-way acquisition process.

The road’s new route will bisect Park Plaza and make way for the redevelopment of the plaza that will include the relocation of the existing CVS Pharmacy as well as a brand-new Hy-Vee.

Prairie View will also pull away from the interstate south of its current intersection with 64th Street and connect with North Chatham at a roundabout southeast of the existing Hen House about on line with Northwest 62nd Terrace.

The road rerouting will allow for the reduction of a signalized intersection as the interstate’s southbound off-ramp traffic will realign with the current-day Prairie View Road alignment.

Minder said current traffic delays could get worse with the expected increase in development in the area. A recent traffic study showed a motorist exiting to 64th Street from northbound I-29 can take six minutes to get from the off-ramp through the entire corridor west of North Cosby Avenue. With the coming development, expectations were that that trip could take 10 minutes. But with the rerouting of Prairie View and a reduction of a signalized intersection in the area, that travel time should be about two minutes, Minder said.

The redevelopment of Park Plaza will be completed in two phases. Phase 1 consists of two new buildings on the west side of the new North Chatham. CVS will operate out of its current location until phase 1 is completed, when it will relocate to a new 12,900-square-foot building on the southwest corner of the plaza, according to the project site plan. Bowers said the other building to be constructed in phase 1 — a 7,700-square-foot retail space — was designed for local retail, but no tenants have been announced.

Phase 2 will be the 81,000-square-foot Hy-Vee building.

News Editor Jeffrey M. Salem can be reached at 389-6653 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .