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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Westport's Mill Street stormwater overhaul is nearly done, with permeable pavers and underground storage tanks designed to end decades of flooding before the World Cup arrives.
Crews are laying the final pieces of a massive stormwater redesign, with visible changes including brick-lined sidewalks, new landscaping, and permeable pavers that catch and hold stormwater before it can flood the street.
Kansas City Water says the work is part of the final touches residents and visitors will see before crews pause for the World Cup.
When rain falls, parking areas along Mill Street double as stormwater catch basins. Underneath them, pipes route stormwater into a main line connected to two underground storage tanks.
Andy Shively, deputy director of KC Water Services, explained how the system works.
"When Mill Creek tries to go back to Mill Creek, it's captured in these permeable paver areas in aggregate," Shively said.
"And there's an under drain that ties the aggregate storage into the main trunk line, which we're standing on right now. So each of the permeable paver parking areas is also storage area to capture storm water before it gets to the bottom of the hill," Shively said.
For workers in Westport, the project brings hope that the worst flooding days are behind them.
Cory Puckett, who works at Beer Kitchen and Char Bar, said he has seen the damage firsthand.
"You know, it affects us on several levels. Guests can't get into Westport. I remember employees being affected because their cars were flooded, you know," Puckett said.
Puckett said he is cautiously optimistic about what the new system will mean going forward.
"The questions on the flooding, we'll have to see. I think it's gonna, it's got to be better. I mean, it will be better," Puckett said.
The city plans to have the area presentation-ready before the first week of June. Construction will then pause during the World Cup before resuming in August to finish automation and landscaping along Dr. Jeremiah Cameron Park.
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