Here’s Waldo!

By Brad Ziegler

Waldo area businesses and residents are celebrating the removal of traffic cones, opening of sidewalks and completion of construction at the 75th Street and Wornall Road intersection, the crossroads of their neighborhood, after nearly two years of extensive construction.

The project included a number of street, sidewalk and trail improvements that extended several blocks in each direction and has resulted in what Waldo Community Improvement District Executive Director Sean Anderson describes as “enhanced safety and walkability and a clean, new look” for the heart of the district.

“For well over a decade, our community members have dealt with unsafe conditions along the Waldo corridor that resulted in vehicular damage, pedestrian injuries and other unfortunate events,” Anderson stated. “The impact of the restoration of Wornall Road, the main thoroughfare through our business district, cannot be overstated.”

In 2015, the Waldo CID reviewed the 75th and Wornall intersection and evaluated safety, traffic patterns, capacity and walkability and identified a myriad of issues that needed to be addressed. The results of that study, and the input of area business leaders and residents provided an outline of the resulting project.

Anderson explained that a large portion of Wornall Road between 75th and 79th streets had collapsed and required complete reconstruction, but traffic flow problems and pedestrian walkability limitations in the area were also at the core of the project’s plans.

Construction began in January 2024 and was planned to be implemented in four phases, each with their own timelines that totaled 15-18 months. Each phase of the long project limited accessibility to different businesses in the area, reduced parking availability for patrons and snarled traffic. The timeline was delayed by weather challenges and unforeseen complications and stretched the patience of all who were impacted.

Late this summer, as the final striping of the streets was being completed and the sidewalk barricades were being removed, the vision for the project that had been a decade in the making began to come into fruition.

The connector that was added to the Trolley Track Trail between 74th and 75th Street, allowing runners and walkers to avoid having to pass through the busy parking lot at that location. The new sidewalks along 79th street, the new crosswalk islands along Wornall Road and the road diet changes to 75th Street, will all enhance safer walkability in the neighborhood.

Traffic flow modifications and new interconnected traffic signals in the area are intended to transform one of the city’s busiest and most congested intersections into one which handles current and future demand more safely and efficiently. As Anderson explained, “We look forward to learning how to re-use Wornall Road and feeling safe in knowing that it is in good shape for a generation to come.”

Infrastructure upgrades to sewers, part of the ongoing KC Smart Sewer Program, replacement of water mains, and installation of new LED streetlights, have all dovetailed into broader green initiatives throughout the city that are designed to be more environmentally friendly and cost efficient.

A final capstone of the project was the addition of a large, colorful new Waldo logo to the pavement at the center of the 75th and Wornall intersection, signifying the neighborhood’s pride in the result of this long, and sometimes challenging project.

Construction continues on the Oberon Apartments, just north of the intersection, which will bring hundreds of new residents to the neighborhood when it opens the 284 unit apartment and mixed use complex in the third quarter of 2026. Being built on the site of the former Waldo restaurant and bar, The Well, the complex will feature a rebirth of the popular restaurant, along with other retail spaces facing Wornall Road, and completion of the project will allow the re-opening of the adjacent parking lot to the public.

Thousands of visitors are expected to check out the upgrades to the neighborhood during the 33rd Waldo Fall Festival on Saturday. The festival runs from 10am to 6pm and features a kids activity zone, live music from 12pm to 3pm, a variety of food trucks and dozens of vendors. Waldo area merchants will also have their doors wide open for festival attendees to check out their products and services.

The festival will also feature the announcement of Waldo’s new honorary mayor, a position that is a long standing tradition for the district.