Share your favorite roads and routes!

[Noah]

I'm trying to figure out what some of the better roads are for getting
around town. This includes downtown, midtown, and JoCo. Other parts of
town welcome, too. Someone today told me "there aren't any roads to
ride on in Kansas City!" and we know that's a bunch of BS, don't we?

In Johnson County, I've found these roads to be friendly enough for
use almost any time of day:

55th
67th (HILLY!)
71st
79th
83rd (East of Metcalf)
87th/83rd (West of I-435)
91st
127th (gets kind of dicey between Pflumm and black bob)
143rd
... Pretty much all arterials south of 151st are "sane" for cyclists.

Somerset
Colonial
Merriam Dr.
Santa Fe Trail Drive / KC Road
Tomahawk

Roe
Lowell
Lamar
Pflumm
Ridgeview
Clare

Anyone have suggestions for midtown? Downtown? I have some ideas
already -- time tested roads I use myself, but I'd like more
suggestions from the crowd. I'm looking for lesser-traveled
cut-through roads that don't end after a half-mile. Some of the above
qualify as arterial roads, but due to wide outer lanes, low traffic
volume, lack of highway access or motorists used to seeing cyclists,
are usually a safe bet for cycling.

[Bob Pisciotta]

Noah, I've been dragging my feet on a reply, so finally, here goes:

 

67th has the added benefit of being a route that gets you past I-35.  To this, I'd add Foxridge from Johnson Drive and north.  It ends at a very quiet lane and bridge, but it also gets you under I-35 and to Merriam Lane.  From here, you head north on 18th St. (warning: substantial climb).

 

Here are some other roads I use:

 

In JoCo:

Belinder from 47th to Somerset (with a little jogging in Mission Hills).

69th (From Mission Rd. to Broadmoor).

Midland (bike lane for much of it, great east/west access in that part of town)

Woodland (good north/south access--but some hills)

Monticello (can be busy but mostly sane)

 

In WyCo:

Gibbs Rd.

Steele Rd.

Shawnee/Greystone (access to SW Blvd., and the bottoms)

59th St. (hilly, but reasonable)

12th St. (to get over the Kaw and the rail yard)

10th St. (to get to downtown KCK)

Central (sorta okay)

6th St. north (from Central)

Washington (east/west access to downtown KCK)

 

In KCMO:

59th St. from Mission Hills well into KC MO.

Oak

Gregory (busy but mostly sane)

Holmes (from Gilham to downtown)

Benton (okay on weekends, I don't know about during the week)

Swope Parkway (wide lanes, plenty of room for bikes)

 

I could go on but that's plenty for now.

 

Bob Pisciotta