infrastructure

With all the track for the KC Streetcar expansion to UMKC now installed, Mayor Quinton Lucas said the project is about 93% done. What's left though is months of testing before it can open next summer.

Kansas City residents can ask the city to install street modifications to help with dangerous intersections or speeding cars. Traffic engineers have wide discretion to approve or reject requests, but City Council has the final say.

The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas, is tackling political issues even as polarization burdens congregations across the country. Plus: Residents near the Lake of the Ozarks hope that approving a new casino could help bring in more tax revenue and fund some long-needed infrastructure projects.

The event-based $30 to $40 flat parking fee surprised and angered some who live and work in the traffic-heavy district. Event pricing will continue in other parts of downtown.

Residents in De Soto, Kansas, are being affected by major infrastructure improvements spurred by the construction of a Panasonic battery plant. With $250 million in public works projects underway, community members are experiencing "construction fatigue," but city leaders say they're already seeing a return on investment from construction of the 300-acre battery factory.

An event parking policy approved by the city this summer means increased prices to park in some areas downtown if there's an event nearby.

After a public outcry from downtown visitors and businesses, Wichita officials pumped the breaks on a plan to add meters to parking spots. Others cities that have made the change, including Kansas City, could offer an example.

A $10 million federal grant will fund sidewalk and bus stop improvements, curb extensions, lighting and other safety improvements to a 1.86 mile stretch of Prospect Avenue, between Linwood and Emanuel Cleaver II Boulevards

The existing bridge over the Kansas River was built in 1959, and has been repaired numerous times. Funding for its replacement was rolled into a bipartisan infrastructure law approved by Congress.

As part of its sweeping green infrastructure plan, Kansas City is transitioning to LED streetlights. The new bulbs are more efficient, last longer and reduce carbon emissions. But environmentalists say that the real solution to reducing carbon pollution is to shut down the coal-fired power plant that provides energy to Kansas City.

Kansas City Council members are working on details to fund the construction of a new jail. Next spring, voters could be asked whether to renew the public safety sales tax in order to build an estimated 250-bed rehabilitation and detention center.

Kansas City lawmakers recently approved millions in state and federal funding for the four-block South Loop project, getting them significantly closer to their fundraising goal. Officials hope the first half of the park could be finished by the 2026 World Cup.