KSHB 41 reporter Charlie Keegan covers politics on both sides of the state line. If you have a story idea to share, you can send Charlie an email at charlie.keegan@kshb.com.
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A Kansas City, Missouri, intersection should be safer now that a traffic signal is in place and operational. City leaders celebrated the installation of the signal Friday at East 51st Street and Troost Avenue.
City council members said leaders at Rockhurst University and University of Missouri-Kansas City collaborated with the neighborhood to raise awareness about the need for a signal at the intersection after UMKC graduate student, Yuxi Wu, died there in September.
“We actually met here on site to assess the situation ourselves," explained UMKC Chancellor Mauli Agrawal. "At that point, we went to a conference room and we decided we are going to get this done.”
Since 2019, four people have died in crashes at the intersection:
- October 18, 2019: a motorcyclist died after crash with a car.
- June 24, 2020: a person died when they fell in front of a bus as it was leaving the stop. Police said the bus ran over the person.
- September 26, 2024: A car hit Wu, the UMKC student, as she crossed the intersection on an electric scooter. The alleged driver of the car, Irving Sanders, faces one count of involuntary manslaughter.
- December 29, 2024: Two cars collided at the intersection, sending one car into the parking lot of Go Chicken Go where it crashed into Marci-Ann Eigenschenk’s car. She was sitting in her car, taken the hospital, where police said she died of a heart attack.
Since 2020, the city’s used an initiative called Vision Zero, which analyzes data to prioritize which streets need safety improvements.
The data only comes from 2019 to 2023. With only two fatal crashes during that time period, East 51st Street and Troost Avenue was a “moderate” priority. Factoring the two fatalities from 2024, the intersection becomes a high or severe priority, which allows for more intervention.
“We like to say we can do anything, but we can’t do everything,” explained Kansas City’s Director of Transportation, Jason Waldron. “We spent 100 years building out this network. Give us some time to catch up to that.”
Wanda Shafer lives in the neighborhood and had been pushing for a traffic signal for years. She’s thankful it’s now up and running.
“I just feel a sense of safety,” Shafer said. “When I crossed, it was a blessing to stand there and calmly wait and then cross the street.”
The signal cost $283,000. The city used a mix of new, scrap and salvaged parts to construct and install the signal more quickly than waiting for back-ordered parts.
“Our goal is to make sure everyone is safe. It’s something I have always thought, but now I think about it as a father. I have a 4-year-old and a 10-month-old,” explained Mayor Quinton Lucas.
The city applied for a federal grant to study other ways to improve safety along Troost Avenue. Lucas said 26 people have died in crashes on the entire length of the road since 2015.
