Leawood could reject sidewalks on streets near Brookwood Elementary School as part of a 2027 road reconstruction. The full city council may vote Sept. 21, less than a year after fourth-grader Duke Ommert was killed on his e-scooter near the school.

The city's public works committee voted 7-1 on Sept. 2 to accept a staff recommendation against adding sidewalks to Mohawk Lane and Pawnee Lane, the residential streets closest to Brookwood. A survey of homeowners on those streets found 90% opposed. Under Leawood's sidewalk policy, homeowners along a proposed segment would pay for construction and handle maintenance, including snow removal.

Councilmember Kyle McCawley cast the lone dissenting vote. He argued that without sidewalks, pedestrians end up walking in the street.

"For me it comes down to community betterment, and I just think sidewalks are a part of that," McCawley said at the Sept. 2 hearing.

The vote came after emotional testimony from parents and residents on both sides. Sara Hertz Wu told the committee that weighing trees against a child's safety was a false comparison, according to the Johnson County Post. Katy Wirtz pointed to fast-moving traffic and school buses in the area and asked what it would take for the city to act.

Homeowners raised their own concerns. Karen Axford told the committee she did not know how she would shovel 100 feet of sidewalk. One anonymous survey respondent wrote that as senior citizens on a small income, the added costs could force them out of Leawood. Another wrote: "Brookwood students are free to walk in my yard."

Ommert, 10, was struck by a vehicle at Lee Boulevard and 103rd Street on Oct. 13, 2025, about a mile from Brookwood Elementary. His mother, Monica Ommert, said at a city meeting that if sidewalks had been on both sides of Lee Boulevard, the accident might not have happened. The boulevard currently has sidewalks only on its west side.

Since Ommert's death, the council has enacted a helmet requirement for riders younger than 18 on electric or motorized vehicles, fast-tracked sidewalk widening along 83rd Street and reconfigured traffic signals on 103rd Street in front of the school. A planned "road diet" on 103rd Street would remove a vehicle lane to make room for bikes and wider sidewalks, according to the Johnson County Post.

The sidewalk debate puts Leawood in a difficult position with its own safety initiative. The city is enrolled in the federal Safe Streets for All program, backed by $452,000 in federal funds, a $56,000 state grant and $56,000 from the city budget. Consultants Burns & McDonnell presented data at a Tuesday, Sept. 8, council work session showing one fatal injury and 15 suspected serious injuries to vulnerable road users in Leawood between 2015 and 2024.

Citywide, vulnerable road users account for only 1% of all crashes but 15% of fatalities and serious injuries. Heat maps from the program's open house showed the highest concentration of fatal and serious crashes on Lee Boulevard and 135th Street.

Councilmember Julie Cain, who chairs the public works committee, said at the Sept. 8 work session that every recent committee meeting has focused on safety. Cain, whose mother was killed by a drunk driver in 1990, urged sidewalk supporters at the Sept. 2 hearing to keep pressing their neighbors.

Leawood's policy requires signatures from 75% of homeowners whose property touches a proposed sidewalk before installation can proceed. A 2022 survey ahead of the 2023 street reconstruction found less than 50% support near Brookwood. Most residential streets north of Interstate 435 in Leawood were built without sidewalks.