Many thanks to a local reader who sent CC'd me on this informative letter he sent to Country Club Kay regarding the street closings downtown.
For him, the news today that they are closing more streets starting in January, in particular they will have five adjacent north-south streets closed (Wyandotte, Baltimore, Main, Walnut, and Grand) demanded a response.
The very observant Kansas Citian writes:
I just wanted to express my utter disgust at the latest news I've heard that both Wyandotte and Grand will be closed downtown beginning in January. Navigating downtown is difficult as it is, in particular with Baltimore, Main, and Walnut closed, but now closing the two streets on either side of those three streets, Wyandotte and Grand, makes downtown practically impassable.
As a Kansas City taxpayer, I'd like to know how much the private companies that are benefiting from these street closures, such as H&R Block, The President Hotel, and Cordish Company, for example, are paying for the privilege of having these critical streets closed for their benefit and denying taxpayers who paid for them use of these assets? I think that this issue is especially disturbing since many of these private companies will not be paying city taxes themselves on these assets for many years due of TIF concessions they've negotiated.
I look forward to the City's response to this issue.
take the fuckin' bus, cry baby
ReplyDeleteHey, take it easy you mean bastid. I mean, I know you’re so hardcore that you don’t even need streets to get to work but some people find them useful. As for the bus, using public transportation to help conserve energy is like giving into the terrorists. And the guy makes a great point, it’s not like the city is saving the manatees, all this construction and street closings are for private companies who won’t pay taxes for years if ever. In the case of H&R Block it’s just to create a more streamlined operation to more effectively ship jobs to India.
ReplyDeleteI haven't received a response from the city, but according to their map, they're not closing Wyandotte now and Central should be back open by then (which I find hard to believe personally, they're reubilding the Central Street bridge).
ReplyDeletehttp://www.kcmo.org/cimo/map_January_2006.pdf
Duh ... I was looking at the map wrong, they'll still be closed ...
ReplyDeleteAs for the whole "bus" comment, do you have any idea how messed up the buses will be. Many bus routes use Grand and Wyandotte now, and they too will be forced to detour significantly.