KSHB 41 reporter Grant Stephens covers downtown Kansas City, Missouri. He also focuses on stories of consumer interest. Share your story idea with Grant.
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Land under the Town of Kansas Bridge that was buried under years of overgrowth is opening back up to the public.
I cover Kansas City and visit the pedestrian bridge regularly. Over the last few months, my fellow walkers and I have noticed a big brush removal project and what it's uncovered.
I found out the work space beneath the bridge is part of a $150,000 brush clearing and ecology restoration project by Port KC.
For years, this area was overgrown and littered with trash.
"The original home of Kansas City, and it was completely covered with invasive honeysuckle," said Matt Staub, River Market neighbor. “There was a plan right before I moved here to really recapture this old town site, this historic start of the Town of Kansas. But they basically threw a fence around it and left it to be overgrown with invasive species and trash, and so this is the first effort to try to recover that and actually take it into the future to be a place where we can enjoy it.”
Looking at the area now, covered in a mix of trimmings and trash, it doesn't look great unless you know what you are looking for.
Staub knows — he's been tracking this project for years.
"I think I mostly see potential, or I see a contrast in what was here before," Staub said.
I also met Kelli Proffitt while walking along the trail and shooting footage for this story.
"Yeah, I think that it's a start," Proffitt said of the project. “I think it's a great idea. Anything that can brighten up Kansas City and make our city look great. I'm 100% for it.”
The brush clearing is step one. Port KC says what's coming next is continued restoration and reseeding.
"That should have been a long, long time coming, too," said Mark Proet, who lives in the River Market.
Now that the brush has been cleared, some of Kansas City's original foundations have been uncovered. If you look down as you walk across the bridge — right toward the end — you can see them.
Kansas City first formed along the riverfront, and in the areas where brush has been cleared, you might catch a glimpse of what looks like limestone foundations.
When I go out to cover stories along the river, I hear all the time about how people in the River Market and riverfront lament the loss of green space to new development, but this could eventually become that new green space they've been longing for.
"I feel like people are kind of coming together and interacting more as the space is more beautified," Proffitt said.
Staub agrees. He said it's "really cool" to see the progress and be able to "imagine so much more easily now what could be in the space."
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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