Missouri's Piss Poor Planning
There are 3 major highways that tri-sect central Kansas City Missouri.
I35 and I29 run north and south, and sort of merge while going through KC. I70 runs east and west.
On the northern side of Kansas City is the famous Missouri River. There are several bridges that link the "Northland" to the those of us who live south of the river.
One of those bridges is The Paseo. The Paseo Bridge is both I35 and I29, so it is a very busy bridge.
Well, if you didn't know it, Missouri doesn't like to repair roads... and that certainly includes bridges. They don't plan for it, they react to problems. Right now The Paseo Bridge is closed for EMERGENCY repairs, and will be closed for six months.
So you can imagine the crap closing a major bridge creates. Northlanders aren't happy about Missouri closing the Paseo.
Traffic is being re-routed onto two other bridges, but those bridges weren't made for major interstate highway traffic.
So now what happens?
Kansas has been repaving and upgrading I635 for the past three years. The entire length of this highway is getting PLANNED maintenance. I635 starts in Kansas in northern Johnson County and runs pretty much along the border of the two states until it crosses the Missouri River... of course this crossing is a bridge. Kansas has been planning to close this bridge for up to sixty days, and this has been planned for years. The costs of the work have been budgeted. The contracts have been signed. The contractor had even agreed to $10,000 per day fines for every day more than sixty days that the bridge is closed.
Missouri has asked Kansas to postpone the PLANNED closing of the bridge for up to six MONTHS, because of the inconvenience it will cause to Missouri's KC Northland residents.
The cost of postponing the closing is $2 million dollars in increased construction costs, not to mention that the contractor and KDot would have to work out a new contract, since the work would NOT be completed in time.
Kansas has told Missouri... screw you. The bridge is closing. Everyone has known it was going to close this year FOR THE PAST 3 YEARS. The inconvenience of increased travel time for Northland residents is nothing compared to the extra $2million tax dollars Kansans would have to fork over.
Hey Northlanders... want to be upset with someone? Well, in about a week the I635 bridge will close and your commutes will get a little longer, so while your sitting there in your car, write a letter to your local legislative reps and tell them to get their act together and provide the funding to maintain ALL the bridges and roads in Missouri. Tell them you are sick of them just reacting, that you want them to be pro-active.
Of course, Matt Blunt would flat out veto any increases in the budget, so it looks as if Missouri is SCREWED!
I35 and I29 run north and south, and sort of merge while going through KC. I70 runs east and west.
On the northern side of Kansas City is the famous Missouri River. There are several bridges that link the "Northland" to the those of us who live south of the river.
One of those bridges is The Paseo. The Paseo Bridge is both I35 and I29, so it is a very busy bridge.
Well, if you didn't know it, Missouri doesn't like to repair roads... and that certainly includes bridges. They don't plan for it, they react to problems. Right now The Paseo Bridge is closed for EMERGENCY repairs, and will be closed for six months.
So you can imagine the crap closing a major bridge creates. Northlanders aren't happy about Missouri closing the Paseo.
Traffic is being re-routed onto two other bridges, but those bridges weren't made for major interstate highway traffic.
So now what happens?
Kansas has been repaving and upgrading I635 for the past three years. The entire length of this highway is getting PLANNED maintenance. I635 starts in Kansas in northern Johnson County and runs pretty much along the border of the two states until it crosses the Missouri River... of course this crossing is a bridge. Kansas has been planning to close this bridge for up to sixty days, and this has been planned for years. The costs of the work have been budgeted. The contracts have been signed. The contractor had even agreed to $10,000 per day fines for every day more than sixty days that the bridge is closed.
Missouri has asked Kansas to postpone the PLANNED closing of the bridge for up to six MONTHS, because of the inconvenience it will cause to Missouri's KC Northland residents.
The cost of postponing the closing is $2 million dollars in increased construction costs, not to mention that the contractor and KDot would have to work out a new contract, since the work would NOT be completed in time.
Kansas has told Missouri... screw you. The bridge is closing. Everyone has known it was going to close this year FOR THE PAST 3 YEARS. The inconvenience of increased travel time for Northland residents is nothing compared to the extra $2million tax dollars Kansans would have to fork over.
Hey Northlanders... want to be upset with someone? Well, in about a week the I635 bridge will close and your commutes will get a little longer, so while your sitting there in your car, write a letter to your local legislative reps and tell them to get their act together and provide the funding to maintain ALL the bridges and roads in Missouri. Tell them you are sick of them just reacting, that you want them to be pro-active.
Of course, Matt Blunt would flat out veto any increases in the budget, so it looks as if Missouri is SCREWED!
posted by P. McB. at 10:56 PM
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