Lee’s Summit plans for World Cup surge: Focus now on safety & transportation
LEE’S SUMMIT, Mo. (KCTV) - Kansas City is counting down to next year’s World Cup, and tomorrow will be the one-year mark till the first match.
Next June, Arrowhead Stadium will be front and center on the world stage when the games come to town.
With thousands of fans set to converge in the area, Lee’s Summit is getting its game plan together.
Although the games won’t be played in Lee’s Summit, they’re planning on being a hub of .
On Tuesday night, city staff presented its plans to the mayor and council – it touched on infrastructure, transportation and public safety.
“We’re plugged in with KC2026, we’re plugged in with whether it’s the transportation committee or Visit KC, or with the safety and security planning,” said Donna Lake, assistant city manager.
Lake said their city could serve as a hub, providing essential resources, a place to stay, and different forms of transportation.
“We have found through our proximity to Arrowhead that our airport is a draw for private jet traffic, and so they’ll probably see some more plane traffic and some more transportation traffic depending on how many of our hotels are engaged with people who can’t get rooms closer to the venue,” said Lake.
Lake also said they have submitted a park and ride location to help ease congestion on event days, but it hasn’t been approved yet.
The site would be East of the Summit Fair shopping area, near I-470. It will also be adjacent to a hotel, accessible to Downtown Lee’s Summit, and provide additional space for necessities & events.
The proposed location would also have roughly 3,000 Parking Spaces -- 1,500 for parking, and 1,500 for bus operations.
It would also be close to restrooms, food & services, and does not conflict with existing businesses.
“It is a fenced and secured place so people can leave their vehicle in a safe manner, it’s a pre-security checkpoint so people that arrive there won’t be coming in and out of there all the time,” explained Lake.
Lake said a new hangar is being built at their airport, and they are also exploring options for more Amtrak trains.
KCTV5 asked if there were any concerns about public safety, as it was the main talking point in their preparation.
“Not in general, not any more than any other community would have on a regular basis,” said Lake, “I think when we know how many base camps are in play in the Kansas City area, you know that would help us understand the numbers of people coming to the region.”
Local businesses are also getting ready for an influx of visitors from all over the world.
“What we did for Downtown Days we kind of changed the layout of the bar and got ready for that influx of traffic, so I assume world cup is going to be real similar to that,” said Eddie Peas, owner of Fringe Beerworks, “We’ll move chairs around, tables around and get it ready to have a good time.”
Peas said he’s confident that the city to get the plans right. Meanwhile, their plan is to just go with the flow.
They even plan to have a special World Cup brew with flavors inspired by the world.
“I think Lee’s Summit is a great community for hosting something like World Cup traffic.”
Down the street, at Third Street Social, they’re excited to show what Lee’s Summit has to offer.
“I think it’s super exciting, I mean I love seeing the diversity inside the restaurant, all kinds of cultures, hopefully we can bring the American culture and customs to everybody,” said Marissa Cochran, Assistant General Manager.
The city manager said she expects the plans to change depending on what the council says.
She also believes the plans will change once they find out how many teams are coming to KC and how many base camps will come into play. They won’t find that out until closer to January.
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