The Cost of Our Aging Infrastructure
Jumping on e-scooters on the fly? Think twice
Exiting her daughter’s apartment building on a recent Sunday, Janet Korte spotted something that looked just like the motorless Razor scooters her children loved to ride. “So I thought, ‘This’ll be a piece of cake,’” said Korte, 52, who was visiting Kansas City from Wichita. She pressed her thumb on the throttle, and the scooter…
Anything Concrete? We Check In A Year After Our Infrastructure Project
Last spring, we dug into the state of metro roads, highways, sewers and public transportation in a project called Public Works? The Cost of Our Aging Infrastructure. Now, we’re issuing a report card, of sorts, to see if anything has changed in a year’s time. We track the progress on our weekly public affairs shows, Week in…
No Public Inspections for Our Rail Bridges
The old Broadway Bridge, built in 1956 when Dwight Eisenhower was president, is “structurally deficient,” according to publicly available reports, and needs critical repairs. But right next to it stands a much older bridge for which detailed public records are not available. The rusty, century-old Second Hannibal Bridge, finished in 1917 when Woodrow Wilson was…
It’s the Journey: Biking in the Metro
Kansas City has one of the highest rates of automobile commuting in the nation. So, what does that mean for the cyclists sharing the road? Public Works? The Cost of Our Aging Infrastructure is a months-long project taking you underneath the pavement to tackle the state of our water and sewers. We track the state of highways and…
Downstream
Downstream As Kansas City Grows, Rivers Become Increasingly Urbanized By: Jesse Howe Kansas City is served by multiple watersheds, the Blue River being the largest. (184,998 Acres) The watershed runs through four counties before it reaches the Missouri River. 54 percent of the watershed is in Kansas 46 percent is in Missouri Approximately 63 percent of…
Testing the Water in Our Watershed
From road salt to pet waste to runoff when it rains, the Blue River and its tributaries have been polluted over time. So much so that in 2010 the EPA gave Kansas City 25 years to reduce the amount of raw sewage dumped into the watershed. Lynn Youngblood, executive director of the Blue River Watershed Association,…
The Cost of Our Public Transit | Episode 5
Get an insider’s look at what’s being done to improve the region’s public transit system and increase access to jobs in “The Cost of Our Public Transit | Episode 5,” the final of a five-part digital series looking at our city’s aging infrastructure. Public Works? The Cost of Our Aging Infrastructure is a months-long project taking you underneath the pavement to tackle the state of…
Bus vs. Streetcar Debate: No Easy Answers
More than a decade ago, the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority launched an express bus system along Main Street between the Country Club Plaza and the City Market. Known as the Metro Area Express, or MAX, that 6-mile route proved so successful that five years later, in 2010, the authority added another line along Troost…
The Cost of Our Public Transit | Preview
If you’ve ever thought about the importance of the city’s public transit system, follow The Cost of Public Transit, the final in a five-part general overview series on our city’s aging infrastructure. Here’s a preview in advance of Monday’s Episode 5. All five overview episodes culminate in a 30-minute documentary at 7:30 p.m., March 2 on KCPT. — Follow the entire project online…
The Cost of Our Roads | Episode 4
If you’ve ever wondered how Kansas and Missouri maintain their roadways, “The Cost of Roads | Episode 4,” looks at what’s being done to fund the roads Kansas Citians rely on everyday in the fourth of a five-part digital series looking at our city’s aging infrastructure. Public Works? The Cost of Our Aging Infrastructure is a months-long project taking you underneath the pavement…