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The City of Kansas City is working to address traffic fatalities by analyzing dangerous corridors and has identified 39th Street as one of the more dangerous in the area.
The City reports that since 2015, an average of four fatalities or serious injury crashes have occurred per year.
In order to make the necessary changes, they're requesting residents' input on what they would like to see.
Trevor Acorn and his family live in Hyde Park. He's pushing for these changes, as there have been a few instances where his sons have almost been hit crossing 39th Street.
"Geez, as a parent, it’s kinda hard to talk about it," Acorn said, getting emotional. "That’s part of why we live in this neighborhood. It’s so that they can get to school and they can get to friends' houses."
Phase One of the changes is set to begin soon. It includes microsurfacing the strip of 39th Street from Main Street to 71 Highway.
"And then we’ll do pavement marking, and the pavement markings will be like one travel lane in each direction and a turn lane in the center," The City's Engineering Division Head, Uday Manepalli, said.
Manepalli believes this will slow drivers down and prevent them from jumping in and out of lanes. It's expected to be complete sometime between the end of this year and early next spring.
Phase One is all paid for through a city ordinance, but there is more to come in the future. Manepalli said the remaining phases will occur during the next few years.
The City is also receiving input from residents, asking them to complete this survey to hear what they want to see happen. It's open to the public through Sept. 15.
"We have a preliminary design and we are going to tweak it after the survey is closed, and take some of the feedback," Manepalli said.
Acorn is anxious for these changes to happen. His 15-year-old son just got his permit, and for the sake of both new and experienced drivers, he wants the roads to be safer.
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