Is it time to close the gates on Cliff Drive permanently?

June 22 was a day for residents of Kansas City and elsewhere to enjoy Cliff Drive, which in the Historic Northeast is one of the city’s few natural outdoor treasures. 

That summer day marked the return of the on-again, off-again Cliff Drive bicycle race that makes up one day of the annual Tour of Kansas City race series that brings people from all over the metro and beyond. 

Some volunteers, mindful of the fact that an event slugged Tour of Kansas City should be a nice opportunity to show off their community, had to work hours of overtime ahead of the race to remove mountains of trash strewn about mostly by construction contractors at the bucolic bluffs along the Missouri River.

The volunteers got rid of much of the trash in advance of the well-attended race, but the solution was and seemingly always will be temporary.

Cliff Drive and Kessler Park double as one of Kansas City’s top outdoor attractions — name another place in town where one can go fishing, ride a bicycle relatively free from traffic, play disc golf, take a hike and go rock climbing in one locale.

It’s also a prime magnet for assholes who dump trash that they won’t want to pay to have hauled away. Security cameras and stakeouts have done little to chase these scourges away.

Northeast residents have had enough.

The Cliff Drive Corridor Management Committee wants to forevermore close the gates at all entrances to Cliff Drive in order to keep cars off the scenic stretch of road. Keeping vehicles out, the thinking goes, will make it harder for contractors to dump their construction and demolition refuse on and around Cliff Drive, which makes up the vast majority of trash that’s illegally disposed of there.

The committee has started a petition to request permanent closure of all the vehicle access gates to Cliff Drive. (It would still allow pedestrians and cyclists to take advantage of the scenic drive.) It would also serve as a barrier for the drug slingers and hookers who sometimes frequent the area.

According to an online petition (check it out here), 900 youngsters from the National Youth Conference came to Cliff Drive earlier this month for a four-day clean-up that yielded 2,700 tires and 3,000 bags of trash.

But all that garbage will almost certainly come back without a more permanent solution.

“This is the system’s namesake park and crown jewel: George E. Kessler Park and Cliff Drive,” reads a statement from the Cliff Drive Corridor Management Committee. “We cannot let it continue to be overrun by trash and illegal activity. We must expand Car Free Weekends to Car Free Cliff Drive.”