Red Bridge Folks still pouting, in over their heads and refusing to talk about the Mayor's empty promises



The last remnants of the Red Bridge crowd are doing their best to ruin their credibility as they're about to be paved over . . . Actually, it's not that bad and anybody who actually drives on Red Bridge (like me) knows that something needs to be done to improve conditions.

Still, I have to say it's sad to watch what was once a grass roots movement turn into a just a few people desperately, unprofessionally screaming at the top of their lungs - That's a tactic that's normally only reserved for bloggers. Also, going after two of the most popular, well-respected Council people just doesn't make sense - Sharp and Jolly both won their elections by significant margins. Jolly got more votes than most of the council combined.

Really: Read the ranting of the remaining Red Bridge Crowd and witness a lot of frustration being put to use unproductively:
Later today, the City Council is expected to pass resolution 080201, expressing support for the Red Bridge Road Alternatives Plan submitted by Bucher, Willis & Ratliff Corporation. (Another plan, funded by Friends of Red Bridge, was dismissed by both the Parks Department and the City Council without consideration.)

This resolution is the final step in a process begun on the first day of the new council (5/3/2007) when resolution 070587 was "rammed through" by Cm. Sharp and Jolly without any opportunity for discussion in the council or with the public.

The words "alternative" and "consensus" have been used by the P.R. firm promoting the Red Bridge project. However, no discussion of alternatives has ever been allowed, and no consensus was ever reached. Friends of Red Bridge, the organization that originally advocated for an alternate approach, withdrew from the process due to its failure to allow different points of view.

The true purpose of the entire project -- to muzzle the opposition to the expansion of the road -- was reported on at the time (see link below). That report has proved true at every stage in the process. Only the consultant and the Public Works department had any control over the outcome.

The result of the study is the third variation of the original plan to widen the road and build a 1,100-foot-long bridge over Minor Park.

An independent analysis conducted by nationally renowned traffic engineer Michael Wallwork concluded: "Finally, because a two or four lane bridge, including a rebuilt Red Bridge will have a capacity far greater than the adjacent signalized
intersections a high expectation exists that, in the near future, there will be a considerable pressure for widening of Red Bridge Road to four or six lanes from College Boulevard east of State Line to Highway 71. This pressure will increase
further with the development of the Richards-Gebaur Air Force Base [into a freight facility]." For the historic Minor Park, as well as the health, safety, and quality of life of thousands of south Kansas Citians, that result would be disastrous.

In a time of "permanent fiscal crisis", many are more convinced than ever that the Red Bridge project is a lavish giveaway to the warehousing and trucking industries which will be using Red Bridge Road as an alternate to I-435 during the frequent periods of congestion there.

Comments

  1. Looks like a reasonable list of grievances to me.

    But south K.C. deserves it because they can't put up better candidates than Sharp, the man who about bankrupted MAST and Jolly, the woman who was considered a joke by her co-workers in the prosecutor's office.

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  2. Sharp and Jolly both said one thing to get support, then turned their back on the people of Red Bridge once elected. Obviously the author has not been subjected to Jolly's refusal to answer e-mails, and using her son as a shield to cowardly slink out the door when anyone catches her at a public meeting.
    The good thing is it looks like most of the affected people are going to be able to force the city to buy their homes so they can leave this disaster and move to a real neighborhood, kind of like Red Bridge used to be

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  3. Yes, there are more than a few people upset about how this BWR project has been handled.
    People who care about the area are concerned about this GIANT bridge coming into our home turf and then the truck traffic that will follow!! (which seems to have been the PLAN all along)
    We don't want it and have been shut out and talked down to every time we have tried to play by the rules. The city goverment is the main problem here not the Friends of Red Bridge.

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  4. Jolly, Sharp and Funkhouser are selling out more communities than just Red Bridge. A LOT of us who have never attended a "Friends" meeting are appalled and spreading the word. We'll be around for future elections. John Sharp should be back on the Hickman Mills School board. I guess that would be wishing THEM bad luck.

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  5. Chuck Eddy sold out his whole district and a couple of nearby towns with the Richards-Gebaur fiasco.

    But then a couple of years later he was virtually unopposed for re-election.

    People have no memory. They will forget this latest part of the plan to convert south K.C. to a trucking hub and then wonder why their neighborhoods continue to decline.

    You get the government you deserve. If Sharp and Jolly are the best you got, you deserve poverty and blight.

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  6. Minor Park's riparian habitat has long been a documented stopover for migratory songbirds, which are undergoing substantial declines. To insist that this beautiful residential area be treated with respect for the ecosystem and it's inhabitants will not only increase the value of the neighborhoods but the long-term value of our region. We need beautiful scenic roadways. To combat the warming effects of urban heat islands we need to protect significant greenspaces. More thought must be put into this and future roadway projects.

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  7. for tony to say he drives red bridge is a joke. he is to busy hiding in his moms basement. the people that opposed the huge bridge are people who are active in neighborhood groups. jolly is a young kay barnes. willing to sell out her neighbors for campaign contributions. sharp he is a tool for economic interests that have bankrupted the city. tony for you say that these council members are the best shows how uninformed you are.

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  8. Yes there are more than just "a few of us" who will be standing up for our neighborhood. The biggest question that I have posed to the city council members is "why does a highway overpass need to be put in the middle of Minor Park?" The Kansas City residents who will be immediately affected would be looking at concrete support structures not the current view of Minor Park. If other Kansas City residents do not stand up for them who will stand up for me? There is no doubt the bridge needs to be replaced but why does it need to be replaced with something ten times the current size. Those opposed to this project over the last several years will continue our fight to maintain our neighborhood and not turn it into a major arterial roadway.

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  9. The City Council is expected to pass resolution 080201, expressing support for the Red Bridge Road Alternatives Plan submitted by Bucher, Willis & Ratliff Corporation. (Another plan, funded by Friends of Red Bridge, was dismissed by both the Parks Department and the City Council without consideration.)

    I would really like to see some alternatives to the large and very expensive BWR bridge. Almost every house west of the bridge adjoining the project area or Red Bridge Road has been sold or is currently on the market since the original 2003 project was made public. Some of them have been turned into rentals. The impact on that neighborhood from the northern alignment of the new bridge is a testament to how insensitive the governance our citizens has become. Much of that impact could have been abated if we had considered a more modest project that leaves funds for the road improvements our neighborhoods have been begging for east of Blue River Road for the last decade.

    I do not see additional funds promised by Jolly and Sharp coming anytime in the foreseeable future. Given the chronic state of city finances left to us from the Barnes/Cauthen TIF spree that we will all pay for over the next 20 plus years; I do not know how we can justify the large bridge project. It is time for some real leadership. The decades old pattern of deferring investment in our city infrastructure is coming home to roost. After we all start getting our 300% water bill increase getting new taxes passed will be very difficult. Union Station wants a new tax to cover their mismanagement, the cronyism and nepotism at Liberty Memorial is still hemorrhaging red ink, we have $45 million more to invest in the American Royal complex sweetheart deal, who knows what additional bailout the Zoo and other programs will need. I have not even mentioned Light Rail; where in the world will that funding come from? The hard decisions are here now and all of the Council's predecessors ducked it.

    This sixth district project can be a beacon to the rest of the city in how to make project dollars cover community needs. We do not need to build a Mega-Bridge for the convenience of a few at the expense of an entire neighborhood. Anyone who tells you this process reached a consensus is deluded. It is still a divisive issue that pits neighbor against neighbor and those tensions have done nothing but heat up. Ask yourselves this question, who is the big influence (money) pushing this road expansion and why?

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