NORTH KANSAS CITY, Mo. — There was a display of democracy in action Tuesday evening as North Kansas City council members and the mayor listened to nearly three hours of testimony on the recent changes made to Armour Road.
"All we know right now is there is a big group of people that don’t like it and there’s a big group of people that do like it," one resident, Lisa Tull, said.
Both sides packed the NKC City Council chambers to voice their opinions over the re-design of Armour Road.
Crews recently cut down the number of travel lanes on Armour Road between Ozark to Fayette streets.
The city designed new parking spots and added protected bike lanes as part of its Complete Streets project.
"It’s not just benefiting cyclists, but it’s also benefiting pedestrians, transit users (and) people with limited mobility," BikeWalkKC Policy Coordinator Michael Kelley said.
A total of 70 people stepped to the podium with 55 speaking in favor, including Lorrie Brown. Her son, Anthony Saluto, died in 2016 when a car struck him as he rode his bike.
"My son deserved to live past 32 years of age, and I believe what you have done in this community is awesome and deserves to stay," Brown said.
There were 15 people who spoke against the project.
"I’m asking that you reverse this road project and return Armour Road to its original design," resident Jim Dunn said. "It’s negatively impacting this community."
Those opposed to the changes pointed to new challenges for drivers.
"I don’t want to hurt a cyclist, but at this point I’m afraid to make a turn off of Armour Road to go into the library go to the post office," resident Vivian Kieslich said.
Despite the differences, both sides agreed on one thing.
"I think you need to think some more before you do anything else, but something else does have to be done," resident Duane Underwood said.
City leaders want to deal with the parking situation in front of the post office and at the Mop Bucket, a nearby business, in the short-term.
From a long-term perspective, city leaders also plan to conduct a traffic study and revisit the topic again in early June.
