Downtown Blue Springs Master Plan 2024

Downtown Blue Springs

2024 Downtown Master Plan

The City of Blue Springs’ 2024 Downtown Master Plan was developed with residents and stakeholders, designed to enhance the image of Downtown Blue Springs and reflect the residents’ desired outcomes for Downtown. The stated goal for Master Plan was to: “Make Downtown Blue Springs the distinct and unique destination to become a regional destination for culture, commerce and street life.”

The City Council unanimously adopted the Downtown Master Plan on March 18, 2024, after months of public meetings and gathering stakeholder input. The Council created the Downtown Master Plan Implementation Task Force on May 6, 2024 to identify strategies, priorities and timelines. In August 2024, recommendations were presented to the City Council.

Blue Springs Strategic Plan 2025–30

With this energy and momentum, it was important to identify Downtown Revitalization as a priority area for the City’s Strategic Plan. The stated goal for the Downtown Revitalization Strategic Priority Area is:
Continue to develop Downtown to be a destination for the entire Blue Springs community with a variety of residential housing opportunities and diverse dining, entertainment and retail.

The stated goals for Downtown Revitalization were as follows:
  1. Improve streetscape to create a pedestrian-friendly environment
  2. Develop Central Park to offer recreational gathering areas Downtown
  3. Encourage and support higher density residential units to attract new residents to Downtown
  4. Foster a business-friendly environment where a mix of commercial uses is incorporated throughout Downtown
  5. Promote redevelopment of underutilized and incompatible properties to implement the City’s Downtown Master Plan
  6. Utilize grants, the Main Center Redevelopment Corporation Policy and other funding opportunities to further incentivize different types of development

Main Street Improvements Project / Downtown Streetscapes Enhancements

Blue Springs voters approved a $40 million bond in August 2024 for various improvements throughout the City, which included $5 million for Downtown Master Plan capital improvements, including sidewalks, curbs and streetscapes.

The goal of the Main Street Improvements Project is to create a friendly and safer pedestrian environment that invites people to walk from destination to destination in the district. This goal reflects the Downtown Master Plan’s recommendation that, “Pedestrian safety is a key ingredient to a walkable downtown. Pedestrians need to feel safe crossing streets, exiting their cars and utilizing public space.” The final design of the
Main Street Improvements project will prioritize pedestrians, while addressing the major ADA conflicts that were identified in the Downtown Master Plan.

On April 7, 2025, the City Council established the Downtown Streetscape Enhancements Task Force. This group was tasked with selecting a streetlight design and color for Main and 11th Streets.

The Task Force was given instructions to hold meetings to discuss Street Light Design options. Following the Task Force’s selections, the City presented the renderings in a public forum before making a final recommendation to City Council.

On June 10, 2025, the City hosted a public meeting to present the renderings and solicit feedback from the public via a public forum, dot exercises and an online survey.

The results of the public feedback were then presented to Mayor and Council on July 7, 2025, to inform their decisions on the project. Reflecting the public feedback received, Mayor and Council voted to approve the hybrid configuration of parking (angled and parallel parking) as well as the double lamp street light option.

Streetscape Site Plan Design

The Main Street Improvements Project will cover Main Street from 7 Hwy to 15th Street, as well as 11th Street from Main to Walnut Street. The project includes the replacement of the current asphalt road with concrete, the widening of the sidewalks and the inclusion of pedestrian bump outs to encourage a pedestrian friendly atmosphere, and the addition of a brick decorative edge to the sidewalk that is cohesive with the monument pillars at 7 Hwy and 15th Street. The project also includes the replacement of streetlights on Main Street from 7 Hwy to 15th Street, as well as adding streetlights on 11th Street, acting as a corridor road to Central Park.

The general layout of the street will be 15 foot sidewalks, which consist of roughly 12 feet of sidewalk and 2 feet of stamped concrete, with parallel parking spots on the north side of Main Street and angled spots on the south side of Main Street.

Hybrid Angle and Parallel Design

Current parking design places all angled spots on the south side of Main Street to maximize parking yield, avoiding the majority of driveway approaches. This also prevents the City from needing to move or adjust the centerline throughout Main Street, providing a more uniform and cohesive look from Hwy 7 to 15th Street.

Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD)

The Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) is a federally-developed guidance document that sets the national standards for all traffic control devices – signage, signals, pavement markings, barriers, etc. – installed on any street, road, highway or bikeway open to public travel.

The final parking and sidewalk configurations offered will be compliant with MUTCD standards to account for additional pedestrian bump outs, street safety measures, parking distance from stop bars/crosswalks, etc. Per the MUTCD, at intersections, parking spaces shall be a minimum of 20 feet from crosswalks and a minimum of 30 feet from stop bars.

Parking Yield

It was previously assumed that any improvements to the streetscape design on Main Street would negatively impact the parking yield on Main Street. Working through the site plan design, City staff was able to produce a design that maintains the same number of striped parking spaces on Main Street (from Mo-7 Hwy to 15th Street). The current striped parking will be reconfigured from the existing configuration, with the angled parking being maintained on the south side of Main Street while the north side of Main Street is updated to parallel parking.

Monument Pillars

Downtown Blue Springs has monument pillars at both entrances to Main Street - a set placed at the “Downtown Entrance” heading west off Hwy 7 and another placed heading east off of 15th Street onto Main Street. The new streetscape design seeks to incorporate the monuments into the streetscape design, extending the sidewalk and landscaping out around the monuments. This will create a cohesive design for the monument placement at the “gateways” to Downtown Blue Springs.
The Main Street Improvements Project will cover Main Street from 15th Street to MO-7 Hwy, as well as 11th Street from Main to Walnut Street. This project includes the replacement of the current asphalt road with concrete, the replacement of the water main under Main Street, the widening of the sidewalks with a brick decorative edge and the inclusion of safety measures to encourage a pedestrian friendly atmosphere.

This project is a 330 Day Construction project that will be conducted in five phases. The project began in June.

The phases are as follows:
  • Phase 1 - 15th Street to 12th Street
  • Phase 2 - 12th Street to 11th Street
  • Phase 3 - 11th Street to 9th Street
  • Phase 4 - 9th Street to MO-7 Hwy
  • Phase 5 - 11th Street from Main Street to Walnut Street
Each phase will generally include underground utility work, grading and removals, street lighting installation, new pavement construction, landscaping, and pavement marking. Roadways within active work zones will be closed to through traffic during construction. Sidewalk access will be maintained as much as possible to allow pedestrian access to homes and businesses.
In an effort to create a pedestrian friendly environment for the Downtown Blue Springs Area, the sidewalks on both sides of Main Street will be widened. Wider sidewalks improve pedestrian safety, boost accessibility (accommodating for stroller and wheelchair traffic), and encourage walking. They create room for two-way traffic, provide a buffer from traffic, and allow space for amenities like trees, benches and outdoor dining.

Widening the sidewalks will narrow the road on Main Street, which necessitates the reconfiguring of the parking layout.
A bump out is a traffic calming device that extends the curb and sidewalk into the roadway, narrowing the road at the intersection. This makes pedestrians more visible to vehicles by providing a protected area with a short crossing distance and also protects parked cars on the roadway.
Voters of the City of Blue Springs approved a $40 million bond in August 2024 for various improvements throughout the City, which included $5 million for Downtown Master Plan Capital improvements, including sidewalks, curbs and streetscapes. These Downtown improvements reflect the desires and feedback provided by residents for both the 2024 Downtown Master Plan and the City of Blue Springs Strategic Plan 2025–30 stakeholder engagement sessions.

The proposed streetscape design will also update the Main Street streetscapes with pedestrian safety measures that are needed. The final parking and sidewalk configurations offered will be compliant with the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) to account for additional bump outs, street safety measures, parking distance from stop bars/crosswalks, etc. The MUTCD is a federally-developed guidance document that sets the national standards for all traffic control devices – signage, signals, pavement markings, barriers, etc. – installed on any street, road, highway or bikeway open to public travel. The improvements will also address the ADA conflicts that were identified by the 2024 Downtown Master Plan.
Each Phase will be sequenced to install the water line & curb/sidewalk first, while maintaining the existing street surface except where installing utilities which will be covered during and after installation. This will involve rerouting pedestrian traffic onto the street surface and back onto sidewalks as construction progresses while the entire section of the street from 15th to 12th Street is fully closed. Once the sidewalks are finished, they will re-open to pedestrian traffic, which then the streets will be removed and re-paved. Signage will be posted and barricades installed to clearly identify pedestrian routes, helping to separate pedestrians from construction.
The City has been working with both Downtown Blue Springs and the Blue Springs Chamber of Commerce to develop plans and contingencies for events during the course of the Main Street Improvements Project. Any changes to event layouts will be distributed in advance of any scheduled event.
The City will be in frequent communication with Downtown Business and Property owners to help minimize disruptions as much as possible. All business and property owners will be hand delivered construction activity/notification letters for phases of the project.

Pedestrian Bridges and Temporary Walkways will be constructed to accommodate continued foot traffic and pedestrian access. Roadways within active work zones will be closed to through traffic during construction.
Sidewalk access will be maintained as much as possible to allow pedestrian access to homes and businesses.

Following roadway construction and the reopening of traffic, there may still be miscellaneous closeout work occurring within the area. This work will generally be limited and intermittent in nature, but residents should still expect occasional construction activity related to final project completion.

To contact the City or the Contractor about an issue related to the project, please use the following contact information:
Project Contact Information
City of Blue Springs:
Project Manager: George Schmitz
Email: gschmitz@bluespringsmo.gov
Phone Number: 816-655-0498

Amino Brothers Construction
Project Superintendent: Chip Cullison
Email: chip@aminobros.com
Phone Number: 913-208-1759

Blue Springs Public Works Phone Number:
816-228-0195
(Contact for Public Works, Water Main Issues)

Blue Springs Non-Emergency Phone Number:
816-228-0151