Kansas City, Missouri – This month, the ongoing work to improve the US-71 corridor in Kansas City will reach another important point. The third Community Summit for the Reconnecting the East Side initiative will take place on Tuesday, September 16, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Bruce R. Watkins Cultural Heritage Center, which is at 3700 Blue Parkway.
The Missouri Department of Transportation and the Mid-America Regional Council are collaborating with city leaders to invite the public to this event. The summit will exhibit off the project team’s first design options for a new US-71, which were based on feedback from the community over the past few months. These ideas are still in the works, and residents will be able to examine them and give feedback before the project moves forward.
The project, called Reconnecting the East Side, attempts to fix the long-standing rifts that the initial building of US-71 caused by cutting through homes and splitting communities. The study area goes from Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in the north to 85th Street in the south. It is bordered by Paseo Boulevard in the west and Swope Parkway in the east.
This summit is the third of four planned public meetings. The first one was in March at Southeast High School, and the second one was in June at Blue Parkway Sun Fresh. Residents at both events said that things like better public transportation, safer crossings, and stronger links to schools, housing, and local businesses were important to them. The project team has put documents online, together with interactive maps and tools, so that people may keep sharing their thoughts and concerns regarding land use, green space, economic development, health, and safety.
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The first stages of the renovation are being paid for by a $5 million federal RAISE award, together with $2.5 million from Kansas City and MoDOT. Leaders say that the project is a once-in-a-generation chance to reinvent infrastructure in a way that makes it easier for people on the East Side to connect with each other and creates equity.
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The summit in September is likely to be a big step toward making the vision clearer. By speaking up now, people in the neighborhood will help decide where improvements should go in the future and make sure that the new US-71 meets the needs and priorities of the people who will be most affected.
