TKC EXCLUSIVE AND BREAKING NEWS!!! KANSAS CITY DOWNTOWN BIZ FEAR ANOTHER JJ'S STYLE GAS EXPLOSION AMID UPCOMING TOY TRAIN STREETCAR WORK!!!
This morning we must give voice to the Kansas City Dowtown Toy Train construction fear of small businesses that no other media outlet dares report.
To wit . . .
KANSAS CITY DOWNTOWN BIZ PEOPLE FEAR UPCOMING DOWNTOWN CONSTRUCTION MIGHT SPARK A JJ'S STYLE EXPLOSION!!!
The fears of Downtown biz people aren't unjustified . . . Remember earlier this year we offered and EXCLUSIVE image of an unexplained Downtown blowout that sent fear through nearby biz owners.
Sadly, toy train streetcar construction brings higher stakes and more dangerous work ahead.
The main complaint revolves around knowledge of underground public utilities that are old school, undocumented and every bit as explosive as the fare of one of our local burrito joints employing people who often fit that same description . . .
To wit . . .
CHECK THIS EXCLUSIVE TESTIMONY FROM A DOWNTOWN BIZ OWNER DESCRIBING THE DANGEROUS MAZE OF PUBLIC UTILITIES THAT COULD PROVE EXPLOSIVE DURING TOY TRAIN STREETCAR CONSTRUCTION!!!
KC DOWNTOWN BIZ OWNER SEYZ: "The gas company came out to replace their defective regulator. To replace it they had to shut off the gas. When they removed the cap on the sidewalk, surprise, no shut off valve. To not have this valve is violation of city, state, and federal law.
"They jack hammered up the sidewalk and still no valve. The next day the big crew arrived and jack hammered up Main Street. I spoke with man in charge of the crew and he showed me a pencil sketch of where the line was supposed to be but it wasn't. He stated that this sketch was all they had and he said most of their pipe and shutoff documents were in the same condition . . .
"This is scary as gas company workers have told me that most of the drawings with the locations are a mess, lost or incorrect."
And so . .
THE DANGER OF DOWNTOWN KANSAS CITY CONSTRUCTION PROBLEMS IS REAL AS FEAR OVER EXPLOSION CIRCULATES AMONG SMALL BIZ OWNERS!!!
Sadly, politicos have attempted to diffuse this explosive talk along with complaints about rising Downtown property taxes that are also blowing up.
In the meantime, the effort to push Kansas City's Toy Train Streetcar is mostly comprised of consultants and pr firms who are answering real world construction questions with nothing but propaganda and marketing hype.
Developing . . .
CK's answer to everything is more marketing.
ReplyDeleteRelax, ere' buddah...and jes' mem'bah now...less not be playin' dem blame games no mowah...yah'heyah?
ReplyDeletebelieve me tony, infrastructure is the last thing on the mind of Sly James.
ReplyDeleteTo bad there isn't a reality show called "Local Government Rescue" or "City Hall Nightmare" where some kick ass no nonsense pros could come in and expose all the flaws and problems.
ReplyDeleteSly James and the crew are a disaster. That's the real explosion business owners should be concerned about. If Sly has it out for the business owner, then expect an explosion. Pay up the insurance premium and let the chips fall where they may.
ReplyDeleteSo who we been paying all these years to keep track of this and why the hell haven't they? Sounds to me like the EPA needs to come in a do a shakedown and there sure needs to be an audit.
ReplyDeleteMy God, that has got to be the weakest shit I've heard from the streetcar haters so far. Maybe the whole "it's undemocratic to exclude non-resident business owners from voting" is more incorrect, but at least it's an honest expression of how bold the corporatists agenda has gotten.
ReplyDeleteBut, Jesus/Mary/Jojo..."streetcar construction might cause gas explosions"? It's getting pretty desperate around here...
How about another 100% incorrect article about FD drug testing.
Hey dipshit, you think those fears might be justified just a tad as there's still parts of that JJ's server that haven't landed yet?
ReplyDeleteJust who's having trouble seeing past their own agenda?
Relax, you're gonna get your streetcar; and be able to take pics hanging off the back SF Rice-a-Roni style, and then of course young blacks will make it completely unsafe to ride, and maintenance costs will hasten the city's looming bankruptcy.. But rest assured, your toy is coming. You've already won the rigged game
ReplyDeleteJust promise me you won't disown the thing when it inevitably fails.
to 10:28
ReplyDeleteracist much?
LESS streetcar. MORE boobs! What is wrong with this blog?!
ReplyDeleteSTFU Pat Klein
ReplyDelete10:33 AM That wasn't racist. People in Kansas City have a hard time defining true racism. When is the last time a white person held up a bus, shot at it or anything else. It just does not happen in Kansas City. How is it racist to say "look at what happened with the buses and likely the same thing will happen with toy trains"?
ReplyDeleteIf you say the word "black" in any context, you are a racist. If you speak about real problems in this city, you are a racist.
Delete10:33, nope, just a keen observer of KC's crime trends over the past 30 years.
ReplyDeleteWillfully naive much?
Anything that costs as much as the toy train will be reserved for white people, just like the P & L District. Except when they reserve something for downtown white people its not racist. Only suburban people can be racist.
ReplyDelete+1 9:43. "Extreme Makerover: Government Edition."
ReplyDeleteI'm more and more convinced that we live in an age of a perpetual adolescence with most of the voting populace...they look for and desire professional cheerleaders in their elected leaders, and despite every fact telling them just the opposite...they want so badly to believe in something, anything as long as it's packaged and sold as sexy and fun. The streetcar is a perfect example of this. This thing is wrong for so many reasons it is really remarkable. The idea of taking a latte to the Kauffman Center once a year on the streetcar is just so sexy to them, that once the idea has entered their mind no other facts matter.
ReplyDeleteReality is a harsh mistress. Enjoy the fantasy while you can.
ReplyDeletePoetic justice, would be for any disturbance to be centered in the Mayor's own office. He's the cause of this problem anyhow.
ReplyDeleteThe toy train is going to be a long term debt load to taxpayers regardless.
ReplyDeleteCity Hall and those involved in building this thing are not going to pay for it.
This isn't free gift from mommy and daddy kids.
White Jesus approves the toy train.
ReplyDeleteFacts: cost $100+ Million. Fare=free. Will be a revenue producer. How??? Talked to guys at ATA their thought: Train to airport from 3rd and Grand. Build a very secure parking structure, for long term parking. Now that is a revenue producing thought, but it makes sense so KC didn't do it. We have a mayor and president that ignore the history of their ideas and the past failures and think this time it will work
ReplyDeleteIf you smell gas in the area, please do NOT call KCFD.
ReplyDeleteI have a business in the River Market area and was told the same things as the OP about the condition of gas mains down here. This is the oldest part of downtown and all the pipes are corroded and ready to collapse. The MGE guys who work in this neighborhood are scared to death of what's going to happen when they start digging up the streets here. They advised me to be sure my life insurance and property insurance premiums were paid up.
ReplyDeleteWhat the fuck does KCMO have to do with the conditions of MGE's gas infrastructure. MGE is the one responsible for maintaining the lines and their maps, last I recall it is a private company that we so want our government agencies to emulate.
ReplyDelete12:36 is right all utility company's are responsible for the locations of their lines. But the truth of the matter is they don't know where a lot of them are.
ReplyDeleteSame problems with the water lines (I can tell you some real horror stories) and KCMO owns them.
ReplyDeleteRacists and snivelers. Occasionally, a little Nazi.
ReplyDeleteNothing's funnier than people crying about the 2 mile streetcar starter line running through the densest and concentration of jobs and fastest growing population in the city "bankrupting" KC cause no one will use it then in the next breath advocating for a 20 mile line to a low-volume airport through the some of the sparsest development in the metro, despite the fact that there's "already (underused) bus service" to the airport, and the fact that many, many airports much busier and closer to their urban cores are not served by rail transit.
ReplyDeleteVerdict:
RED HERRING.
Good thing Sly already has the KCFD shirt, clean pressed and ready to go!!
ReplyDeleteIf you dislike niggers, you are a racist. I am a racist, thank you.
ReplyDeleteI hate KCC does that make my a racist?
ReplyDeleteI hate trolls does that make me a racist?
ReplyDeleteI hate a racist does that make me a racist?
ReplyDeleteAs a matter of fact it does 3:19
ReplyDeleteBlaming MGE instead of the city doesn't improve the situation or make people safer.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, it's not supposed to turn a profit; even NY's subway only generates 35% of it's operational costs in fares. There is streetcar propaganda that claims a streetcar attracts businesses, and while that is true, there are no independent studies that determine exactly how much growth they are responsible for, and there is a consensus even among transit advocates that streetcars never provide a return on their investment.
There are similar studies that show BRT creates equal or more growth than streetcar for a fraction of the cost. Even the Troost MAX is taking credit for growth around UMKC. That's debatable, but it's the same logic, and should be considered before we vote in the next rigged TDD election.
BRT is great.
ReplyDeleteToo bad in KC the suburbanite-minded citizens and 80's-era traffic engineers think that BRT and express bus routes are the same thing.
So why are the utilities being moved if you only need to dig a foot down for streetcars?
ReplyDeleteLooks like City Hall and others didn't tell the whole truth. This is why the cost when up so much.
More drama! If anyone who is anyone actually believed there is a chance of an explosion the permit would not be issued. N E X T !!!!
ReplyDeleteelBryan - here is that independent sudy that you were looking for:
ReplyDeleteThe Great Streetcar Conspiracy
http://www.cato.org/publications/policy-analysis/great-streetcar-conspiracy
You are similar to a Nazi when you generalize an entire race. Used to be Catholics, Irish and Jews.
ReplyDeleteI have yet, in this time of holiday season, to hear anyone cite a biblical reference in support of race bias.
Little introspection, rather than rationalization, is always impressive.
7:24 fuck off hippie
ReplyDelete12:56pm talking about the Main Street streetcar route as being "the densest area of population and jobs" is a great example of the nonsense that's endlessly repeated about this fiasco.
ReplyDeleteOut of a mtero population of 2.4 million, a TOTAL of 20,000 people live in all of downtown KCMO.
And only 16% of all the jobs in the metro are in downtown KCMO.
If you're from a one stop light town in western Kansas, downtown KCMO is an "urban environment".
But in reality? Not so much.
10:28 +1 , Toy train will be populated with niggers and spics. Who, in their right mind would ride the Ghetto Train ? Morons...
ReplyDeleteI've read the CATO study; it raises a lot of good points but is hardly "independent," There are plenty of other objective sources regarding cost vs. value of the streetcar. Next City, The Atlantic, and Human Transit are all lukewarm to streetcar, and make great cases for BRT and Bike Share.
ReplyDeleteAnd speaking of BRT; yes, they are different than express buses. Kansas City has invested in roads. We have more roads/highways than any other city, which is why express buses and BRT are better options for us. If we put MAX service in the streetcar Phase 2 corridors, and introduced BRT along Truman RD, we'd grow our transit service at a reasonable rate.
Snivelers, racists.
ReplyDelete