In January 2022, the City of Westwood began convening partners up and down Rainbow Blvd. to discuss issues and opportunities each saw for the corridor. This bringing together of stakeholders was initiated with the intent to explore whether and how the recommendations of the City's previous planning efforts could be implemented. Multiple major stakeholders along Rainbow Blvd. had over decades evaluated and envisioned a different future for this key piece of the regional transportation network.
The City of Westwood's own planning and study efforts include:
Although the list of stakeholders expanded over the two years the partners comprehensively studied the corridor, the initial and core partners included:
- Mid-America Regional Council (MARC)
- City of Westwood, Kansas
- Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, KS
- City of Westwood Hills, Kansas
- City of Mission Woods, Kansas
- Rosedale Development Association
- The University of Kansas Health System
- Kansas Department of Transportation
- Kansas City Area Transportation Authority
The study team partners sought and won funding through MARC's Planning Sustainable Places program later in 2022 and over the course of 2023 and early 2024, conducted a public engagement process and engineering design study to "Reimagine Rainbow".
The Reimagine Rainbow plan focuses on creating Complete Streets within the study area by improving mobility, safety, and comfort for everyone that uses Rainbow and adjacent streets. This study examines the existing road design on multiple sections throughout Rainbow Boulevard to understand how geometric changes could improve the safety, accessibility, and attractiveness of using multiple modes of transportation, such as walking, bicycling, and transit, in addition to driving.
From Summer 2023 through early Winter 2024, the professional study team conducted:
- three rounds of surveys
- pop-up meetings
- an open house
- individual stakeholder meetings (with the core stakeholders as well as with neighborhood and school groups)
- formal steering committee members
- comment gathering through a public input website
This work resulted in the following materials for use by the stakeholders in determining which recommendations to pursue:
- Communities are Made by People informational video
- Final Reimagine Rainbow Report and Plan
- Public Input website (live throughout the study period and still open for review)