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Infrastructure is aging nationwide.
Shrinking investment over the past two decades has left the U.S. with an old, inefficient foundation for economic growth....
State and local investment in infrastructure(As percentage of total GDP)
Leading to a rising bill to keep it all together.
Infrastructure needs by 2020 compared to funding in 2013*In billions (In 2010 dollars)
Kansas City is also facing crumbling infrastructure.
City leaders say it will cost $4+ billion to fix its crumbling merged sewer and stormwater system that’s breaking federal environmental laws.
The city has 2,800 miles of sewer pipeline.(Enough to travel to New York and back.)
Some of the pipes date back to the Civil War era.
Repairs will cost residents, who pay some of the highest water rates in the country.*
*(Based on 7,500 gallons of water used per month)
The day the downtown streetcar launched, a major highway overpass nearby is closed after the bridge began to crumble.
Engineers say that in downtown Kansas City dozens of bridges were built more than a half century ago.
Since 2011, more than $1 billion has been shifted from the highway fund to address the state's revenue shortfall, according to the Kansas Department of Transportation.
Our local highway system suffers from a lack of funding, congestion, and increasing time in traffic.
(The average Kansas City-area driver faces 39 hours of delay each year.)
KC’s new streetcar saw its millionth rider before even one year in operation.
Meanwhile, Kansas Citians have some of the worst access to well-paying jobs in the country.
(% of working-age adults able to reach job within 90min. via public transit.)
Join us in the search for solutions from both sides of state line. Follow Kansas City PBS and its digital magazine, Flatland, as we explore Kansas City’s infrastructure, the challenges it faces, and where hope lies ahead.
