Here's why these yellow statues are popping up at Kansas City crosswalks

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — KSHB 41 reporter Lily O’Shea Becker covers Franklin and Douglas counties in Kansas. Share your story idea with Lily.

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Kansas City, Missouri, launched its SafeAcross KC pedestrian awareness initiative Wednesday.

Yellow statues shaped like pedestrians are now located near 10 crosswalks across the city.

“I feel like that would help," pedestrian Daven Ross said. "I feel like that would be eye opening for people.” 

It is part of the city's 6-year-old Vision Zero resolution that aims to eliminate fatal and serious-injury pedestrian accidents by 2030.

John Batten/KSHB

"We want to call attention to these crosswalks and remind everybody that pedestrians will be present in these areas," Jason Waldron, KCMO's director of public works, said.

Every year since 2021, the city has averaged 51 fatal and serious-injury pedestrian accidents, according to the city.

City officials spoke at the SafeAcross location near the intersection of Troost Avenue and 31st Street, adjacent to Operation Breakthrough.

John Batten/KSHB

Waldron said the city is prioritizing high-pedestrian and high-injury network areas in the first wave of the SafeAcross KC program.

“On the day-to-day basis, I see hundreds of kids crossing the street with their parents or after school teams, so safety and crossing the streets here are very important," Tyron Bridgewater, who works at Operation Breakthrough, said.

James Moyer said he lives in the neighborhood and bikes through the intersection twice a day.

John Batten/KSHB

“It’s a hot zone, I guess you could say that, traffic wise," he said.

He said safety needs to be increased for the children who attend Operation Breakthrough. He said he has almost been hit by a car himself.

He said he doesn't know if the SafeAcross KC statue will make drivers more aware.

"There’s a lot of people messed up on drugs around here and drinking and driving," Moyer said.

City officials are asking both drivers and pedestrians to be aware of one another.

“We actually look at every fatality accident, the causes, and try to brainstorm to see if we can come up with options, whether it be engineering or anything we can think of to keep a fatality from happening in the future," Maj. Jason Asper, KCPD's traffic division commander, said. "SafeAcross KC is part of that project.”

Asper said there have been 11 pedestrian fatalities in Kansas City, Missouri, this year. The number is up three from this time last year.

Waldron said Vision Zero is a comprehensive plan that includes both awareness initiatives and infrastructure improvements.

"One size doesn’t fit all," he said. "We may have to change course and try a different strategy at a location.”

The city will be conducting quarterly studies on the effectiveness of SafeAcross KC. Results will be made public.

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