KSHB 41 reporter La’Nita Brooks covers stories providing solutions and offering discussions on topics of crime and violence. She also covers stories in the Northland. Share your story idea with La’Nita.
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Kansas City, Missouri, unveiled new renderings showing how U.S. 71 Highway could be transformed to better reconnect East Side neighborhoods.
For the past year, KSHB 41 reporter La'Nita Brooks has been covering the Reconnecting the East Side project, speaking with city officials and residents about the possibilities.
Up until now, three options had been on the table: a freeway, a boulevard, or returning U.S. 71 to its original grid. Now, a fourth alternative is being considered.
Selena Bur, planning manager for KCMO Public Works, described the new option.
"A grade-separated parkway. So, essentially, U.S. 71 would be below the cross streets, the existing cross streets that go across U.S. 71," Bur said. "So, it would be less conflict between pedestrians and U.S. 71 traffic."
The new possibility would transform a section of U.S. 71 between 85th Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard into a freeway, adding bridges to connect the communities.
Bur said the community has responded positively to one key feature of the parkway alternative.
"One thing that I think folks really liked at the community summit was the frequent crossing that we have on the parkway alternative about every two blocks, and these would be higher quality crossings with wide pedestrian pathways," Bur said.
One resident said he supports the direction of the project.
"I like the changes, I really do," Mr. Jackson said.
The goal of the project is to address safety, increase accessibility and mobility, and reduce congestion.
The city is now moving forward with the next phase of the process.
"We are drafting the planning and environmental linkages document, and so that would be a public document that is then disseminated to the public for comment and that we'll have for public review sometime this summer," Bur said.
Online voting for each alternative remains open through May 8.
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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