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While we were not surprised that the condition of sidewalks and truck traffic along Lighburne Street were among the top concerns expressed by residents of the Jewell Historic District at a recent workshop, solving the problems may be more difficult, especially with the trucks.

Lightburne north of Mill Street and Leonard Street south of Mill are part of the Missouri Highway 33 corridor. Noisy 18-wheelers routinely travel on Lightburne and Leonard as a shortcut to get from U.S. Highway 69 to Missouri Highway 291.

There is no disputing it, that stretch through a mix of residential and commercial area is a state highway, and Missouri allows trucks to travel along its highways. An earlier agreement between the state and city to take over that part of the roadway appears to be going nowhere.

The city’s takeover of the roadway was tied to construction of the proposed Flintlock Flyover, which at this time remains in limbo considering the squishy economy and apparent lack of interest from the City Council.

In exchange for the city taking over a number of state roads, including Lightburne, Leonard, Missouri Routes B and H, Southview Drive and Church Road south of Highway 291, the state tentatively agreed to take responsibility for the Flintlock overpass that was designed to cross over Interstate 35. The federal government several years ago earmarked $19.2 million for the project, which still remains in play. The last estimate for Flintlock was pegged at $22.5 million.

With the city facing a budget crunch, the school district earlier bailing out of the project, Kansas City’s unwillingness to participate financially in Flintlock and plans by developers to build Whitehall shopping center on hold, nothing could happen on any takeover for years.

Anyway, we’re not convinced the city could do much to alleviate the annoying truck traffic even if it accepted the roadway. The city would have to commit to serious enforcement, and it would be difficult to stop the big trucks on the narrow streets without impeding traffic flow and endangering the public and police.

There may be some solutions for the sidewalks, though. District residents could vote to create a neighborhood improvement district and tax themselves to pay for new sidewalks.

In Liberty, sidewalks are the responsibility of property owners.

We think a better idea would be for the city to create a matching grant program for which the city and property owner would share in the cost of constructing new sidewalks.

According to city engineers, it would cost an estimated $1,600 for a 4-foot-wide sidewalk along an 80-foot frontage. Sidewalks would encourage adults and children to walk more, improve the looks of the neighborhood and the health of residents, enhance property values and could help avoid accidents from broken or uneven sidewalks.

The city should have as much interest in safe sidewalks as the adjoining property owners and the cost should be shared. And not all the sidewalks need to be replaced. This is doable. Go for it.

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