Working toward a safer space: ‘71 Highway Reconnect KC’ moves to city council

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - The City of Kansas City, Missouri leaders continue taking steps towards revitalizing U.S. 71 Highway and reconnecting that corridor to downtown Kansas City.

The Transportation, Infrastructure, and Operations Committee ed an ordinance June 25 to allow a $5 million grant for Kansas City Public Works to enter a contract with HG Consult Inc. to plan, execute, and connect KC after decades of disconnect.

The first phase is public outreach, communicating with nearby residents on what they feel needs improvement.

They are looking at the area of MLK Jr. Boulevard and 85th Street in particular.

“Please, go as extensively as you can, and let’s try to make sure that we include the community in every phase in this and get as much input as we can,” said KCMO City Council Member Darrell Curls.

35% of the entire budget is going just to public engagement phase, which is scheduled for completion by Winter 2025.

They will have office hours at a headquartered building, a community advisory group, neighborhood listening sessions, pop-up events, and more to hear from those impacted by the highway separation.

As we previously reported in October, 71 Highway was constructed in the 1990s and early 2000s to provide direct connections to downtown, but that came at a cost.

71 Highway tore through predominately African-American neighborhoods on the east side. “The result of this highway was a lot of traffic congestion, light pollution, air pollution, and noise pollution, which has negative effects on the health of the remainder of the neighborhood,” said KCMO City Engineer Nicolas Bosonetto. “It did not have the economic prosperity that was promised.”

KCMO Transportation Director Jason Waldron said three of the 10 most dangerous intersections tracked by the state of Missouri run through the corridor in question. Safety is vital, it’s important, it’s a big reason for looking into this area.

Waldron told project leaders and committee that changes do not have to only repair roads and walkways, but stressed they can transform areas with trails, housing, and anything else the community desires.

HG Consult Incorporated President Earl Harrison Jr. said, “There’s a lot of distrust in this corridor. It’s happened over the years and the things that have happened - we’ve got to dispel that, minimize that, make that go away.”

Now, the ordinance ed in the committee heads to a vote at city council Thursday.

Curls said, “We normally go to the community and say, ‘This is what we’re going to do.’ Now, we’re asking them, ‘What do you want seen done?’”

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