Hello, I'm Nick Haines.

Happy Labor day.

We're giving our crew and our panelists a break over this holiday weekend.

As many of us hit the road to getting that last extended break before the end of summer, we're also hitting the road around here, literally.

Now that the Royals ballpark has been greenlighted and a deal is beginning to save the Plaza.

Attention is moving to the next big project on the city's To-Do list, fixing one of Kansas City's most controversial dangerous.

And if you drive it, the most infuriating stretch of pavement in the Metro 71 highway, the Bruce out Watkins Drive.

More than 22 million vehicles a year travel.

This ten mile stretch of pavement on Kansas City's east side opened 25 years ago.

71 highway, later called the Bruce on Watkins Drive, was designed to be a fast route to downtown from the growing Missouri and Kansas suburbs.

But you wouldn't know that from the way it's built.

Drivers complained that the six lane freeway is infuriating when its series of brakes, screeching traffic lights that have led to some of the highest pedestrian and cyclist deaths anywhere in the metro.

Northbound 71 highway here remains shut down.

Just north of 435, a woman is in a Kansas City hospital tonight.

She was shot in the head last weekend while on 71 highway on the side of 71 highway.

It's not hard to find pieces of past accidents.

The traffic lights were a compromise after black leaders vigorously fought the highways construction, even calling it Kansas City's Berlin Wall.

And that's from the man that now bears the highway's name.

One tenth of the entire black community would be forced to move to make way for the roadways construction.

Well, you know, this was, eminent domain, so you didn't have a choice as to whether you're going to keep your house or not.

It was when you accept this deal or you.

I don't think they really had a choice.

In all, 2000 homes would be bulldozed to the ground, scores of businesses and churches flattened and 10,000 people displaced.

One has to be honest with the destruction.

That's 71 highway.

Wrong.

There were very real communities, people attending the same church, people having neighborhood get togethers.

You know, it just ripped that community apart.

Now Kansas City wants a redo.

Armed with millions in federal cash, proposals are on the table to dramatically redesign the roadway from taking up the traffic lights to a bold plan to move parts of it underground.

This hour, two of the city's top power players join us as we head to the Kansas City Downtown Library for a town hall on the past, present and future of 71.

Week in review is made possible through the generous support of Bob and Marlese Gourley.

The Francis family Foundation through the discretionary fund of David and Janice Francis, and by viewers like you.

Thank you.

Hello and welcome.

I'm Nick Haines, and in the words of Monty Python.

And now for something completely different.

We get to be highway planners this hour as we try to figure out what on earth to do with what some say is the most controversial highway, the most deadly highway in the metro.

And if you drive on it, some drivers would say the longest stretch of pavement in our entire metropolitan area.

We're talking about 71 highway, the Bruce Hour, Watkins Drive, which, by the way, turns 25 years old from its opening this very year, though its tortured history began back in the 1950s.

But now the city is serious about a redo.

But what would it look like, and who pays the bill for that?

Kansas City Congressman Emanuel Cleaver is with us.

He helped to bring.

You up with the new objections of federal cash to find a solution.

You're here.

You know, as a city councilman, I live during the roads construction.

He's also the only person in the room with a road named after him.

Like me.

You may drive all over him every single day.

Emanuel Cleaver, we're thrilled to have you with us.

Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas doesn't have a road named after him, so thank you.

At least not yet.

Perhaps a new ballpark might be named for him.

He's now on a mission to rethink the Bruce and Watkins drive.

Could that involve removing those great brakes, screeching traffic lights, moving parts of it underground?

We'll get into that.

And when the rubber hit the roads, details about the current state of the highway one future looks like is Salena Zapata Bur.

Yes, she is a former specification specialist with the federal government to start a planning manager with the city and ordinator of Reconnecting the East Side, a public engagement project to get a better handle on what the public wants to see happen.

But, Mayor Lucas, may I start with you?

You know, with everything else on the list of priorities that we have in the city, why has fixing 71 highway, the Bruce R Watkins Drive been moved up to one of the top items on the To-Do list?

You know, I think there are a few different reasons.

Great to be with you.

Primary among it is actually safety.

So we have continued to deal with accidents, injuries, fatal ones, 55th Street and 59th Gregory and Bruce.

Our Watkins drive is one of our more dangerous intersections in the city.

So the conversation started from how can we do better for many people in the neighborhoods who are trying to traverse east west?

That's where the chat starts.

For me personally.

I grew up in Kansas City, obviously grew up before this iteration of it was open and hear a lot of stories and even have my own memories about the highways, construction and what it's meant to many of us.

So we thought with all of that and and some wonderful federal grant opportunities, the congressman was able to get us, it was time to start talking about if you don't drive on the Bruce walk ins drive, you know, what is the problem with it and what are we trying to fix here was the problem we're trying to solve.

So a lot of different problems.

On the corridor, one of them is the cross streets and the signals.

And so if you're a pedestrian trying to cross 71, it's, it's challenging to say the least.

A lot of people use prospect Max, on the prospect corridor.

That's the the highest ridership corridor in the Cata system.

And so if you're crossing from the east side of 71 to, over over to prospect, it's it's quite the journey.

As an example, Emanuel Cleaver, this road has quite the history, and you've been involved in much of it.

But the road was named after a former city councilman by the name of Bruce R Watkins.

Apparently, though, he hated this road.

And in fact, he called it Kansas City's Berlin Wall.

That's a bold statement.

What was the problem that he had with that road?

He hated it because it tore up three different communities.

People can't tell now.

And that's why he disliked it so much.

But but, the area contained homes that people had lived in for decades.

The state board bought those homes, for the construction of the highway, but the area sat vacant with just weeds.

Animals and crime and everything else.

And so he constantly, preached the ugliness of that roadway.

But it is quite the irony that the person who hated it the most has it named after him by you, by the way, Emanuel Cleaver.

Well, how would Bruce Watkins think about that road today?

Would he be turning in his grave?

Quinton Lucas so would he like it?

I think he would understand, respect and recognize the honor, but he would be wanting us to do right.

He would want us to make sure we're thinking about people traversing safely across, making sure that we could still fight for the neighborhoods as he did as a city councilman.

And I think that is that legacy that inspires us to keep working.

Today.

We know that 2000 houses were demolished during the course of building this highway.

During that whole period of time, to up to 10,000 were displaced during the building of this project.

But those families were compensated for their homes.

So when they might with people.

It was $15,000 roughly, and then 3500 for relocating expenses.

Was that fair for the time?

No.

Okay.

That's a absolutely not.

They had no choice.

They had to move.

And the and they were almost put in a situation where they had to accept whatever, was offered, that there was no thing like, well, I'm just going to stay now.

By the way, you can learn more about the history of this road in a terrific exhibit right here at the downtown library called, detoured.

And what are the intriguing part of it for me was that 71, as we know it today wasn't even going to be built where it is on the east side of Kansas City.

It's hard to believe now, but the original plan for 71 called for a north south highway through Waldo book signed, and the Country Club Plaza at the time was championed by the Plaza owners.

The J.C.

Nichols Company, who saw it as a fast moving pipeline of new customers for its growing shopping district.

But homeowners were outraged.

It's part of an overlooked story in Kansas City history.

When we dug into in our recent documentary Land of Opportunity, what happened was first the people started complaining and actually a whole bunch of them took the city to court.

It would require them to broaden the easement.

At least 200ft on either side of roughly one road.

Right.

And that meant a lot of houses, a lot of expensive houses.

So it was taking houses from judges and doctors and lawyers and people of influence.

So this is where you start to get kind of more organized resistance.

And so they're really dislike for this South community newspaper.

They're like putting these two photos together and saying, like, you know, this is what we have.

You really got this.

And then the Waldo Business Association getting in on it, you know, calling it a danger.

Children and community.

That was the last straw for the Department of Transportation.

Too much trouble.

They just said at the time, we've got our eye on another route over on the east side.

We're going to go over there.

And the subject was dead for those people.

Why did they move that route?

I got to tell you, Bruce has a little more juice than the people who lived in the, the pathway of the, what became of the South Midtown Railway.

And ultimately, the Blues are walking.

I mean, I hate to say that, but I think that's a fair.

Was it because it was cheaper to be able to build it then?

Yes, it was cheaper.

You know, the white community out of the planet?

Sure.

I mean, and they didn't have to worry about any many, accommodation.

This I mean, it was a different time, and, and that time was exploited by those who wanted that, roadway from downtown to the to the suburbs.

Now, one of the oddest parts of this I mentioned, it was the oldest road was the fact that it was this fast six lane freeway, and then it's got these brake screeching traffic lights that infuriate a lot of people who drive there, coming in from south parts of Kansas City and suburban areas.

But I was just reading a report on channel four, actually, here in Kansas City, and they called them clever traffic lights, cleavers, traffic lights.

You were the one who put them there.

Why?

Why was why did you do that?

If we did not put the lights up, it would become a freeway.

I mean, you know, whatever the highways, I-70, whatever that would be, and there are still people in trying to live in that area.

And, you know, there would be no regard for, the sound, the traffic.

And we were also trying to discourage, the big 18 wheelers.

Do you regret it today?

Regret putting the traffic lights on it?

Oh, no.

No, we were trying to do something for the community.

The community had been disconnected.

We wanted people to have to stop, so that they wouldn't go 80 or 90 miles an hour.

And and we have more traffic deaths.

Selena, you've been doing a lot of community engagement about this road and what its future will look like.

But let's look at where the road is today.

When you think drivers complain about the stoplights, pedestrians complain about having to cross, their neighbors complain about being divided by it.

Who exactly is this road walking for?

Is anybody come to those sessions saying, you know, I like it just the way it is?

That's the interesting thing, is that in all these community engagement sessions, everyone has that.

There has to be something that we need to do on this roadway.

It's something's not working.

So it's not working for the commuters.

As you mentioned, there's a lot of stop and go, it's not working for pedestrians and bicyclists.

It's also not working for, the residents around us 71 with all the stop and go.

There's a lot of emissions, a lot of noise from the breaking, by the traffic signals.

And so, we're trying to come up with a solution that would, benefit all of those groups.

Now, we keep hearing about this being one of the deadliest stretches of roadway in our entire metropolitan area.

And you could certainly see that when you turn on your local TV news.

Northbound 71 highway here remains shut down just north of 435.

Yes, a confirmed fatality accident now, a woman is in a Kansas City hospital tonight.

She was shot in the head last weekend while on 71 highway on the side of 71 highway.

It's not hard to find pieces of past accidents.

This section of 71 highway is highest in the metro area for severe injuries and deadly crashes involving both pedestrians and cyclists.

Is it really, though?

The city's deadliest, most dangerous stretch for pedestrians and cyclists?

Or is that an exaggeration?

It is very dangerous.

The crash rate is twice the rate of similar Missouri expressways in the state.

A lot of also, we're ending on the corridor from having to stop suddenly.

So just the design is different than a lot of other highways.

There's also what you call right in right outside.

Folks of the neighborhoods can quickly kind of turn on to 71, but they have to go really fast, right?

Because the cars behind you are going really, really fast.

So it presents, certain types of challenges that aren't, typically experienced in other highways.

It makes me want to say, God bless Bruce Watkins for the fight he was putting up way back when.

And everybody who has worked to make sure we think about the community because something that is not talked about enough or asthma rates, having cars idling there for long times, create issues in the neighborhoods nearby for our young people who are in that area, and a challenge that we need to continue to mitigate.

There are a number of ideas now about the future of 71, including keeping it largely as it is, removing the traffic lights, converting it into a boulevard, or provocatively, according to some news reports, and moving portions of it underground.

Now that seems bold.

Would we really be putting it underground?

Selina.

So not necessarily.

It would be lower than than the surface.

Okay.

When I saw those stories, I'm thinking of the South Loop Park now, the Roy Blunt Luminary Park, where they wanted to put a cap over 670 and put a park on top.

That's what I was picturing when I saw those first initial reports.

That's not what we're talking about.

Well, the design that we're looking at wouldn't preclude something like that in the future.

And that's really good to note.

But what we're looking at now is lowering it so that, we eliminate those conflict points.

And then, east west, you have, crossings that are at grade.

And so you can go more seamlessly from one side to another, over high quality crossings.

Emanuel Cleaver, what did you think when you saw those original stories saying, boy, this could be buried underground here?

At the.

That's interesting.

I, you know, I mean, I never I never had a vision of it, you know, going under the subterranean highway.

But, I do think that all of the ideas that are coming up are worthy of examining.

I mean, we have a chance, I think, right now, to to begin something majestic.

Some of that has been ugly.

Something has.

I mean, kids trying to.

One of the reasons we have battles, lots of kids trying to run across.

They think they can beat the traffic like kids do.

And so we have a chance to correct a major problem in our community.

And I think if we got together, we could do it by the way, we'll be taking your questions because you're our fourth panelist, by the way, this evening we have a microphone here we'll be bringing out to you.

In fact, I'll bring it out right now if you have questions.

We would love to hear from you, but I want to get drilled into some of these options here, because we've already had viewers who already have their own solutions.

And we heard, for instance, from James, who was a quick and cheap fix for you, just remove the traffic lights.

That was a huge mistake, he writes.

Put in overpass bridges and be done with it, as it should have been done 40 years ago.

Now, if you eliminated those crossings, what would residents gain and what would they lose?

Building bridges is something you should do in life.

Morally.

It's not cheap to do in infrastructure, so the whole idea that you just take out the lights, you build a bunch of overpasses, Reverend Kleber can just get us 300, $400 million like that, which he's going to announce in just a few moments with us.

That's why I came today right.

But, easier said than done.

So that's why we are going through the work to make sure we can address.

So, you know, you've done so many of these community engagement sessions right now.

What was the number one most popular option for this 71 highway?

The bus on walk.

Right.

I think it depends where you were at in the process.

So it was a it was an an evolution.

Right.

And so we heard different ideas at different times of the process.

In the beginning we had a an exercise called Be the designers.

So we had a map and we had all these different game pieces, and folks could go around the table and kind of show us where they wanted to see improvements and what kind.

And so, we saw a lot of traffic lights, of course, we saw a lot of public art.

So I think during that kind of more exploratory phase, we heard a lot about, removing the traffic lights.

That was probably the one that was really up there, as.

But even people who lived in the community said they were up to that.

Or was that other, other folks who wanted that people from the communities like that as well?

However, if you're a driver who uses that every day and you're in Lee's Summit or you're living in Lenexa or Lee, what do you do?

You get a say in this?

We did.

Yes, we did also engage those stakeholder groups.

So, as you know, MoDOT is the owner of US 71.

So they own the asset.

And, commuter, you know, commuter views are important to consider too.

And so we also went out to those communities, worked with chambers of commerce, to present these ideas as well and get their input.

Why not just leave the road as it is going to look at it and find new ways instead to invest in that community?

Don't spend any money.

You've already said even putting bridges on there is going to be a much more expensive proposition than lay people like myself and our viewers know.

I'll be honest, we evaluate at that as well.

What if you just looked at other alternatives?

Keep it as is, do more enforcement change speeds?

Go through all those steps.

That has been part of our study.

I think, however, what we are recognizing are a few different things.

One, we never stop thinking about how we can do better by our community, particularly to so many who know the story.

And then second was this.

And I'm going to commend Congressman Cleaver, who voted for this administration that made funding available to reconnect communities.

So Kansas City was not going to sit back and just say, all right, we're ignoring this issue.

Instead, I think we were very active.

We were able to obtain good grants that allowed us to do the research necessary to even dream and think.

My first term on city council, I chatted with a councilman from that area who spent a lot of time saying, yeah, maybe we could do something, but I can't even imagine what it would be.

This has given us that chance to have that imagination, but some dollars with what that imagination is.

But really, I think, do right by the neighborhoods that we'd love to hear your questions if you have them.

By the way, we've had a lot of questions from our own viewers, like Alice, who says, Mayor Lucas, you started a reparations commission.

Would compensating the 2000 families who lost their homes during the building of this highway or their descendants be the best, highest purpose of that reparations money?

You know, I have not thought about that, but that is actually one thing that could pass constitutional muster, most likely because there was this back and forth for a minute that you spoke on, on compensation.

They received.

You can't give enough compensation to destroy someone's community.

Frankly, I think our whole city deserves compensation.

When you look at not just the people that were moved, the families that were moved, the traditions that were moved, the black community that was separated.

Right.

The scars that exist for generations, the people that don't have their family homes and their legacy homes, that takes a lot of money.

And I don't think it's what was given as people were being moved, the ghost town that existed before, they were tearing down everything and the years.

And I'm not the oldest man, right?

The years that we were just going by and saying, why is half of our community kind of torn apart?

And I remember somebody told me, I'm at 63, in prospect, probably 1993, and he says, that's a faster way down town.

And I'm like, we're not even anywhere close to downtown.

What does that mean to a child, to a family, to a community?

So I do think if there was a way, no matter what you name it, that you get more to the families, that you track it down, that you actually hear their stories, go to the black archives, record them.

I think that is essential for us long term.

I mentioned the all word reparations.

It's been a while since we heard that.

What happened with that?

And given what we've now experienced, we've been hearing about in the news of the legal challenges to the minority business contract program in Kansas City, does the Reparations Commission also face the same fate that goes, you have to make changes there, too.

I think the challenge of this current moment in our country and some of the trajectory we have seen at the Supreme Court, is not that you give up, but that you need to find more creative ways to make sure you assist your communities long term.

So you were correct to note, perhaps you have things in different names.

You take different approaches.

But I think, Nick, you already laid out the best way, which is we got a register of families.

You have descendants of those families.

That is a way to find people.

And although it had really a true racial impact, it can be race neutral and say, look, if you lived here, this is somebody that we can address.

We should talk to that we should do something for.

If this was such a pain point for the African-American community living right there, all of those houses taken away, families displaced, businesses lost.

Was there anyone at your community hearings that said, let's just get rid of the road altogether?

Selena.

Yes.

Okay.

Tell me about that.

Yes.

So it's absolutely a sensitive issue.

One of the alternatives or ideas that we heard early on was to rip it out and just put the original street grid back the way it was.

And we call that alternative Return to Grid.

And it gained some traction earlier on.

And then as the project, evolved, sentiments changed about it when it was further developed as an initial alternative.

And then it was also evaluated.

So we got to see what would happen to traffic in that kind of situation, what would happen to the air quality, to the safety issues that we were looking at?

It's interesting right now, if you live in the southern part of our metropolitan area and you go on 71, you will notice that it's close at 435.

You can't even get on 71 highway.

So people are already going on 435 getting to where they need to go without ever using the road.

So is that a conceivably, a possibility that it would just return to grid?

We won't have that road in.

Look, it's conceivable it's something we've studied.

I don't know of.

Our friends at MoDOT will let us.

Okay.

And so I think that we work with those realities along the way.

Any changes?

You, by the way, you have to make on this road requires federal approval.

Because isn't there a lawsuit against the city, a consent decree?

Yes.

Okay.

Tell me about that.

What actually has to happen, to make any changes to this stretch of highway, you have three jurisdictions involved.

And and lawsuits.

I mean, you're talking about miss, it was mess it in.

And if you think.

Well, well, let's clean it off and just rebuild homes.

We have, what, 23,000 vacant lots right now?

Yeah.

Well, we I mean, why would why in the world we do that and when we can see right now what's going on in the urban core, you know, you're going to north northeast area, central city, lots open, open, open.

But it's worth it, I think, for us to struggle with, you know, what can we do?

How can we get this right?

Bruce was Bruce Watkins was dying in research hospital.

And Harold Holladay junior, Archie Welch and I would go up to that and we have prayer with him.

And, and no matter what we prayed about, no matter what we tried to talk about the case, that didn't matter.

It's coming right back to the, that stretch of land.

I mean, Bruce was upset with all the way up to his last breath.

Do something.

And so, I think, you know, the do something is a lot more difficult, and I don't I mean, I don't think we can paint a picture.

And I think that the truth is not that we're saying it's easy.

It it's not, well, difficult because you already talked about the price of some things.

You know, there were there was an early a $5 million from the federal government to studying all of this.

Then recently we saw headlines, another million dollars more research to be done on this.

$6 million.

What is the next half a billion or billion come from to make these kinds of changes?

Matt Lucas, you started a few different steps.

I mean, I think federal participation ends up being an important part.

If you're looking at some of the larger scale things we've discussed that erection of bridges, looking at different changes, there are more affordable ones.

We talked about planting trees more.

I think, frankly, we need a lot more trees on the east side of Kansas City generally, right?

It improves air quality.

It makes things cooler.

There's that sort of step.

You can do some of the pedestrian safety and other safety improvements.

You may not believe it, but I used to go to the barbershop, lived on the east side of 71 highway, would walk to the west side of 71.

How I was one of those 16 year olds trying to figure out the best way to do it.

Think you're invincible?

Think you can do whatever.

So what can we do in terms of danger mitigation that you have there as well?

There are a lot of creative things that Selina and her colleagues address, and we are going to try to look at all of them.

But it is not a story of if we don't get the biggest, baddest federal grant that we give us, we will make sure from our public works budget, from begging, borrowing, asking the state of Missouri and others that we are looking out for the safety of this community.

And by the way, I also go to the barbershop and I donate my hair into Locks of Love.

But Matt Lucas, I am interested though, in this whole point.

You know, if money was not an object.

Yeah, worrying about politics and the federal government was not an object.

What would you do with 71 tomorrow?

I mean, look, if money was no object and you had what you could, I would, I'd probably back the Chiefs from Kansas over the 71.

I'm gonna help the people first.

I'm over it.

I'm on.

And, I would I would say this right now, buried underground.

I think of rail based transit that helps you get there.

Is this thing you talk about, the public transportation you think about even, like a streetcar or a light rail.

But wasn't that considered early on?

Emanuel Cleaver yeah.

When it was first being, drafted, there was a the the plan, the hope was to have a bus lane, that would sort would have solved a number of the other problems.

So the busses, would have almost free access up and down the roads quicker.

And, and a lot more, safely, frankly, I thought and still believe that that offers us, a solution.

Now, what about streetcar light rail?

Was that part of the conversations you were hearing from those affected in your community hearings?

Absolutely.

So, transit was one of those little game pieces that we had in the be the designer exercise.

And so some folks that we really want to see transit along US 71.

And so all of our refined alternatives include a corridor, that could be used for transit in the future.

So we won't preclude, something like light rail or commuter rail, should the demand be there in the future?

But you never seem to hear about 71 unless, though Quinton Lucas, it seems to be always, we now talking even about a, a route that gets you to the to the new Royals ballpark.

Even one that goes to the Chiefs Stadium in Kansas.

An east west line from Q hospital to the vet hospital.

You never hear about it, though, for 71 the same way.

Is that a priority?

I think I think it remains a priority.

I think the first thing we need to do is get people to believe that there are opportunities, that there's a discussion, that there's a form of change.

I think the other thing that we need to do, I've run into other Missouri officials who are not from Kansas City, who are from point south of my city and the district in, the district I still think I live in, which is Congressman Cleaver's district.

You know, I'm we're still there, but whatever.

Who who have different views.

And so we need to make sure that as we look at ideas, I know I do think that if you're talking to a human being and Cass County or points south, they two should agree that our kids being safe, that our community is being better, and then still being able to get through is important.

But those are important conversations.

I think, as we built that, because some of them probably are like that first writer that you mentioned who said, just take out the lights.

And I think I can get from Raymore to downtown Kansas City in 25 minutes, and we need to maybe adjust that thinking a bit.

And that's a large part of the work that I think our city has been doing and that others have been doing to make it as good as possible for everybody.

If you have questions, we'd love to hear from you.

We have a microphone here and you will be next at our microphone.

I am excited though, our you know, we don't know where the money would come from, that there's only $6 million in planning money.

It's going to cost an awful lot to provide these solutions.

What is the plan B?

If there is no money?

Well, I think plan A is obviously find the money.

I need money is the key to getting it done.

And that last $1 million that we just got, was an innovative financing grant.

So we'll be able to look at different financing mechanisms for this.

Hopefully that will give us some really good, foundation for that.

Yeah.

You you mentioned about Hope plan B, but plan B as I'm getting to the end of to your question.

Yeah, please.

We also have some short and medium term type improvements that we could implement, in, a phased approach.

And so we plan on doing that anyway because we don't want to just wait until we have the money to do the big thing.

We want to make improvements that can save lives.

Now, are we giving false hope to people if we haven't got the money to make this happen?

Now, let me talk about an issue that might even be controversial.

You ever been a hallmark headquarters and have you ever walked into hallmark headquarters?

Be like, man, this would be a perfect place for a baseball stadium.

Nobody was thinking that three years ago.

Two years ago, I'd argue even ten months ago.

Right.

But you have people who study, you have some folks who believe.

And it's amazing that when something seems important and I'm part of this too, right?

People find a way.

So I don't think it's hope as much as it is saying this is an identified municipal state regional concern and us making it a high point in our federal grant request that we make every year, because there's a chat right now about for those who live in the Northland, the 2935 split, is there a way they can make that work out?

We're going to spend money.

If you look at Kansas right, they've expanded 69 highway.

Who knows how many times there is real money coming into roadway infrastructure.

So for us it's not being hopeful.

It's us cutting.

Fighting for those priorities for this community was interesting.

You mentioned 69, because what they did there in Overland Park was to put a toll there.

But is that a possibility on this stretch of road?

Is that a way of funding it?

But they did that because it would take too long to get the state money.

You can't get them running me out of the state of Missouri.

But, you know, look, I, I'm not so on that that is not an option.

I don't believe by state law it is an option.

We're very anti toll road in Missouri policy.

So that's that is a nonstarter.

Not that there can't be other ways to figure it out.

How do you balance the interests on this Salina.

When it comes to people who are living who are driving on this highway every, every day versus those who are living in the community?

And when a decision is made, who gets a priority here and what this looks like?

Well, this project, first came about because of the safety of the community and and the health of the community as well.

So, that's our priority is making sure that that they are, they can benefit and that they are they're safe.

We're also taking into account commuter interests.

But at the end of the day, I mean, that's what this project is about, is fixing those those wrongs.

Good to have you.

Thank you.

My comment is regarding the maintenance of 71 highway.

I have reported a light pulse that has been on the ground off a 71 highway.

The exit that you exit off of 71 to down to Kleber Boulevard.

That light post has been laying on the ground for three years.

I have reported it at 311, and I have reported it at one of these listening sessions.

And the light pulse is still on the ground.

That would never occur west of choose.

It would not stay there for three years.

Matt Lucas Yeah, that's unacceptable.

I'm not going to make an excuse for it.

You know, I'll explain how sometimes those things happen.

Not that there's an excuse.

And we have the city's director of transportation here so he can call all the people to fix.

We're leaving his private cell phone number.

All right, but but I will say this.

And this is kind of part of the problem.

And I think we see broadly on the highway, and I think the congressman referred to it briefly when you have so many different parties in something, everybody's point at somebody else.

And it would amaze you how often with a trees down or a lights down is it the power company is a motor is on the city ground whose property is a private property.

Everybody looks nobody quite does it.

That's not an excuse.

Somebody needs to figure out a way to get it done.

You have let us know that.

But, I think that is something we need to address.

And importantly, I think your your view is correct that in different areas of the community that responsiveness can seem different.

Our goal is to always make sure we cure that.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And by the way, on Broussard Wilkins Drive, if you have your cell phone and you're using Apple Maps or Google Maps, you still get a little alert, don't you?

When our traffic light, red light, camera head, red light cover.

They're not there anymore.

They are not.

You said you were going to start the program again for a terribly different issue that you should have another show about, because I don't do a social media post now where people don't talk to me about flat cameras, a surveillance state, etc.

there is there is a tension.

The simple answer to your question, though, is now the cameras aren't operative.

It doesn't look like they will be re operative for at least a short time.

Hi.

Good to have you.

It's hard for me to talk and my mouth is dry, but I'll try.

I have a bottle of water here.

Okay.

Back up.

Earlier in the spring, when I got my first email concerning this issue, I thought, you know what the.

It's what we need is pedestrian bridges over the highway to keep the kids from, you know, running across the highway.

And I thought that that would be the maybe the quickest way to solve some of the problem.

So I came up with 11 different, pedestrian bridges over 11 different intersections, beginning with 33rd and then going to 37, 41st, 40 50/50, 53rd, 57, 68th, 69, 75th and 72nd Street.

And I think this is what we're going to need no matter what our other solutions are, whether we get rid of the traffic lights or whether we keep the traffic lights, or put it underground or whatever, you know, kids have to have a way to get across the highway.

Thank you very much.

Pedestrian bridges, for example, are great.

But if everybody still wants to cut somewhere because that's the natural walkway, then you haven't necessarily resolve the issue.

That's the sort of work that we're doing on the engineers study academic side.

But you can't build enough to protect the community.

You have to have them every other block.

If you put 20 more bridges, there, would some people still want to cross because it's still you have to walk too far to get to them.

So we put it every two blocks.

I think that's pretty good.

But I want to thank you for your comment because we heard that as well.

Obviously, final design or, you know, preliminary design and final design is still to be refined in the future.

But that idea is is there and it's it's being considered.

Well, clearly this man has done a huge amount of homework.

He has his business card.

He will help be a paid consultant on your project for you, Emanuel Cleaver.

If we could go back to the beginning knowing everything we know today, would Kansas City build us 71 the same way?

And if not, what would we build instead?

Well, that's a tough question.

If we had the benefit of looking down through the, the long corridor of the future, I think we could we could make better decisions when we got the money for to do the the, Southern Railway.

It was like you got to move fast.

And we were running.

Everybody's running and pushing and spending and so forth, trying to get it going.

There was no time for us to sit around and, and do what, what you've been doing, what the city's been doing, looking and studying.

I think now we're in a much better spot.

Joe Biden told me in front of people.

He said I was I grew up in Wilmington, Delaware, and he said it never occurred to me that they built a a roadway right through the middle of Wilmington and tore up the black community.

And he said, I was a grown man when I realized, what have we done?

And so he's the one who started to reconnect the community from his own experience.

I still think that's worthwhile reconnecting communities, whatever we do, I mean, we can't, in my estimation, push people further and further and further apart.

You have been listening to Kansas City Congressman Emanuel Cleaver, Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas, and planning for the entire road.

Selena Zapata Burr.

And I'm Nick Haines, thank you for being here with us at the Kansas City Central Library.

And from all of us and our production crew here at Kansas City PBS, be well, keep calm, carry on.

And after this program, drive safe for.

Tonight.