Traffic concerns on Liggett Avenue took center stage at the June 24 Crestwood Board of Aldermen meeting. 

Residents of Liggett and the surrounding neighborhoods showed up to state their case for a tighter grasp on speeding and reckless driving in the area. Following public comment, discussions among the aldermen on the proper course of action carried on for almost an hour. 

“It’s not just kids that are impacted by the people going too fast on the street,” Liggett Avenue resident Catherine Sherwin said. “For overall safety, this is an important project, so I hope it won’t be a one-and-done thing and then forget about us.”

She added that the problems with Liggett spring from its connection to Big Bend Boulevard, where she believes motorists also drive too fast and use Liggett as a cut-through to Watson Road. 

Regarding speeding on Liggett, a memo from Crestwood Chief of Police Jonathan Williams stated, “Traffic violations on Liggett Avenue have always been an area of extra focus for the police department.”

The meeting ended with a resolution to place speed humps at 848 Liggett Ave. and 1334/1337 Liggett Drive;  painted crosswalks, increased signage and flashing yellow lights on pedestrian signage at Briarton Road; and mini-roundabouts at the intersections of Leawood Drive, Grovena Drive and Coffey Court.

In May, a survey was sent to 72 homes on Liggett Avenue or with driveways accessible by Liggett; 37 homes responded to the survey. Of those 37 respondents, 89% were in favor of traffic-calming measures on the street, and almost 11% answered that they were not in favor of the measures. 

Three residents from Leawood Drive and Briarton Road rose during public comment to voice complaints over the installation of mini-roundabouts in their neighborhood. They already have some experience with them: in April, a temporary “mini-round” was erected at the intersection of Leawood and Liggett to test the efficacy of the traffic calming measure.

While residents assured the board that they were in full support of traffic calming on Liggett, they voiced an obvious disdain for the addition of permanent mini-rounds. Their worries included the difficult maneuvering of large vehicles — school buses, delivery trucks, trailers — through the intersection with a mini-round in the way, as well as concerns that vehicles would cut left to bypass the mini-round without going all the way around it, like the sign indicates. 

“It seems to be creating a bigger traffic hazard, because cars don’t know how to navigate it,” Briarton Drive resident Chelsea Pelchman said.

More than one resident during public comment requested more police monitoring and ticketing along Liggett. Ward 2 Alderperson Rebecca Now later responded that Crestwood could not afford to have the police department constantly monitoring the road, and that it would not be a long-term solution, since drivers would just speed again when the police weren’t around.

During the discussion, Crestwood police chief Jonathan Williams answered questions from the board on the installation of the three mini-rounds, or synonymously “traffic circles,” and addressed both of the aforementioned concerns from residents.

The mini-rounds will be specifically constructed with a concrete curb and “buffer zone” for large vehicles like buses and trucks, so they are able to get a tire up on the mini-round as they maneuver around the traffic circle. The aldermen voted for a concrete curb and buffer zone as opposed to asphalt, saying it would require much less maintenance as a “high-impact zone,” and the cost being negligible enough.

Secondly, Williams said motorists are legally allowed to turn left on a mini-round and bypass the circle entirely, instead of going around it. This statement received bewildered looks and upturned hands from residents, who had previously insisted that those left turns would eventually become a traffic hazard.

Despite the pushback on mini-rounds, Williams has data to show that traffic circles work in slowing drivers down. The data collector, stationed on Liggett, measured the speed of vehicles traveling southeast after driving through the mini-round.

In October 2024, before the installation of the temporary mini-round on Leawood and Liggett, 26% of drivers were driving under the speed limit of 20 miles per hour, and the average speed was 23 mph. 

But after the installation of the temporary mini-round, 38% of drivers were driving under 20 mph, and the average speed was 21 mph. Williams believes drivers will continue to slow down on Liggett even further after the installation of the three permanent mini-rounds, since drivers will encounter one after another without ample time to speed up.

Another issue raised during the meeting was how “ugly” the mini-rounds were, as one resident put it. A child in the neighborhood, Jack Murphy, stood up during public comment to ask for a way to beautify the spaces, saying, “It would make a lot of people happy.” 

According to Williams, the original plans for the traffic circles did not include any landscaping.

“I don’t want to aesthetically condemn that corridor by having just asphalt or concrete islands,” Ward 3 Alderman Grant Mabie said about Liggett Avenue. 

In the end, the Board of Aldermen voted to put grass in the center of the mini-rounds, in the middle of the circular concrete curb and buffer zone, for aesthetic purposes. These three mini-rounds will be added to the mowing contract with the company that mows cul-de-sac islands throughout Crestwood. 

During the meeting, it was repeated by aldermen that it was better to have some solution than nothing at all, and that amendments to this plan could always be made later.

“There’s nothing that we’re doing here that’s completely unfixable or irremovable,” Ward 1 Alderman Jesse Morrison said.