To me, the struggle over Red Bridge Road is tantamount to a fight for Kansas City's soul or at least what little is left of decent middle (to low) income neighborhoods in South KC.
Today at 10:30a.m., the Red Bridge Road folks are turning over to the City Clerk a petition stop the Red Bridge condemnation ordinance from taking effect until after the new City Council and Mayor-elect have taken over.
According to their newsletter, they received three times as many signatures required to file their petition but even more notably new 6th district council members-elect John Sharp and Cathy Jolly also signed.
So, we'll see . . . But one thing is for certain, these folks have done everything possible for what they believe to be the best interests of their neighborhood. I've lived in KC all of my life and I've noticed that most people in this situation simply move rather than work to get something accomplished. The Friends of Red Bridge Road are a great example of community involvement in Kansas City given that sometimes they were played, they made their presence felt in the media and they never stopped pestering people in power.
Mind you . . . None of this means that Red Bridge Road won't eventually be turned into a 5 lane highway but I just have to admire how these folks made a stand.
Your boy Al Brooks lives right in that neighborhood. Where's he at on this? And where's he been the WHOLE TIME?
ReplyDeleteIt really sucks that it will HAVE to become a 5-lane, sooner than later.
ReplyDeleteI drive RBR every day. In the last two weeks, the trains have gone through during prime morning & evening rush-hour (the longass jobbies, that have you sitting there over 5 minutes and backs traffic up for two miles -- pretty significant in Quiet Neighborhoodland).
I've also noticed they've got the trash trucks out much earlier than they used to, which slow things way the hell down because it's hard to pass them on a two-lane at 7:30 am.
Can't help but think the powers-that-be are doing it on purpose, you know? Make things as inconvenient as possible 'til people actually start begging for the fucking 5-lane.
Way of the world ...
I live on Red Bridge Road a couple thousand feet from the railroad. My trash was picked up at about 10:00-11:00 A.M. this week, as usual. They NEVER pick it up at 7:30. Not here.
ReplyDeleteAnd I haven't been stopped by the train for 5 minutes in as long as I can remember. (I keep a log.)
Traffic from the train has never backed up as far as my house.
So, I wonder what that guy is talking about.
(I keep a log.)
ReplyDeletefuck man, who taught old people how to use the internet?
old people invented the internet sonny.
ReplyDeleteDear Anonymous User of The F-Word,
ReplyDeleteBlog = Web = Log
Correction...
ReplyDeleteBlog = weB + LOG
Hey, I saw this story on TV. That Eddy guy doesn't care about RR crossing safety. That's the safest crossing in SKC. People are dying on 85th street because high-speed roads cross the line there. Put in Federal Highway standard crossing guards there that improve safety.
ReplyDeleteHey Eddy: Stop lying about the danger issue. It's a scare tactic. You want to put in the road to bring in the trucks and we all know it.
Alvin Brooks has been right there with Chuck the whole time. His scare tactic is to talk about traffic and wrecks by his subdivision. The problem with that is the stretch of road he talks about as being so dangerous isn't even in the project area.
ReplyDeleteif people are dying on 85th street they must be keeping it secret...
ReplyDeleteYou can call me old, too, Jazo, but my memory goes back to 1996 when a driver was struck and killed on the railroad crossing on 85th street.
ReplyDeleteAnd there have been many other accidents there. The most recent was just last fall.
Guess what: nothing like that at Red Bridge. Drivers go over the crossing at like 20-25 MPH, so everything's cool.
If the bridge is not put in, then PUPPIES WILL DIE!!!
ReplyDeletePLEASE THINK OF THE PUPPIES!!
PUPPIES PUPPIES PUPPIES PUPPIES
I'm really curious how many of the BridgeZilla fanatics actually drives this stretch of road on a regular basis. The current road/bridge sucks!! Does Craig actually live east of Holmes, because I promise the train traffic has been backed up to the fire station. Quit fighting progress, this neighbor need some growth.
ReplyDeleteMr. Silent Majority wouldn't recognize progress if it came up and bit him in the ass.
ReplyDelete