OFFICIAL: Port Authority Riverfront Project

[staubio]

Thanks for the update.  I didn't get out of work in time to catch the Troost bus's long painful haul southward, so I'll have to make my way up north tomorrow.  Was there a lot of feedback opportunities or was it basically a presentation?  Was the blue hair dude that got worked up about parking and noise there this time?

[shelroni]

staubio, you have such a way with words!

I can't believe you missed the meeting! How am I going to get my info about the meetings? Am I going to have to find out all my info form KC skyscrapers?!? It is so hard to find good help these days.

[dangerboy]

Thanks for the update.  I didn't get out of work in time to catch the Troost bus's long painful haul southward, so I'll have to make my way up north tomorrow.  Was there a lot of feedback opportunities or was it basically a presentation?  Was the blue hair dude that got worked up about parking and noise there this time?

Sorry man, we should have connected for a ride...  Mayor Berkley was there again, but sans blue-haired parking freak.  They did break-outs again and this time my group was already assimilated so it went smoothly.

[staubio]

staubio, you have such a way with words!

I can't believe you missed the meeting! How am I going to get my info about the meetings? Am I going to have to find out all my info form KC skyscrapers?!? It is so hard to find good help these days.

Don't worry, I'll go tomorrow and fill you in.  You could go too, you know.

Dangerboy, I should have thought of it ahead of time.  I need to catch the bus around 5:15 to get down there on time and I usually am not out of work until 6.  The time just totally passed me by and I figured I could ride up north and it is probably closer to the Rivermarket as well.  It is also a chance to check out that neighborhood office up there and influence another crowd.

I think the most amazing news in all of this is the dual pedestrian/bike access on the bridges to create the loop, although I find it discouraging that this is basically a concession that connections in other directions aren't going to be so good.  I won't get started again on the removal of the bridge that went to Union Station and how critical it was for completing this corridor, as well as the rail crossing connection and the connections to points east.

Sounds like a good group, though.  I'm glad the Port Authority is finally really moving after talking about this project for years.  With this many high paid consultants on board, I should hope they would be making quick work of it.

[justin8216]

When exactly was all that riverfront development near the Berkley Park supposed to materialize? What about the Aquarium. I haven't heard anything in a long time, ever since Gale Properties pulled out.

[dangerboy]

There is no aquarium.  There is a groupd of people that talk and dream about an aquarium, but so far they have no money for it and the city doesn't seem eager to take it on as a government project. 

There were no specifics on timelines.  But with a master plan due in June, I could see groundbreaking in 2007.  Gale is long gone, this job was over their heads. Forest City, Civitas, and the German waterscape engineers are some of the best in the business.  This time around it all seems to be for real.

[kard]

I really hope this is significant (and it seems like it will be) enough to "make it".  I think it's going to be disconnected enough from DT/RM that there won't be pedestrian traffic between the two.  It's a jaunt, and there's not really any kind of path.  Maybe they could extend the Max by one stop or something (brilliant!).

I wonder if there could be any friendlier use for that old rail yard around where the Grand Avenue Viaduct makes it's turn northeast to the park.  I'm thinking like the Landing in St Louis...under the bridge.  I'd really like to see this new stuff connected with what's there.  Columbus Park, of course, but also with the larger River Market.

Maybe I'll bring that up tonight.

[dangerboy]

I wonder if there could be any friendlier use for that old rail yard around where the Grand Avenue Viaduct makes it's turn northeast to the park.  I'm thinking like the Landing in St Louis...under the bridge.  I'd really like to see this new stuff connected with what's there.  Columbus Park, of course, but also with the larger River Market.

Actually the planners did raise the possibility of extending the park west into this area as a way to connect it better to the Town of Kansas site.  The Port Authority already owns most of that land, but of course someone still needs to come up with money for a pedestrian connection under the ASB tracks.

Connectivity was a big theme.  There would be two streets connecting to Columbus Park, Lydia and then either Harrison or Campbell.  There is also right-of-way reserved for a twin to the Grand viaduct, which could include a bike/ped lane or sidewalk from the River Market.

[knucklehead]

Was there any discussion of the new 1-35/29 bridge. Will it be in the exact same spot as the old bridge?

I would hate to see the port authority do something we regret latter when the plans for the bridge are finalized?

Or is the new bridge so far off that it doesn't make any difference?

[staubio]

Quote of the night last night "ahh, nice!," spoken by forumer Kard, who I met at the meeting, in response to an insult lobbed at me by a 75 year old and highly respected community leader.  'Twas fun!

[Tosspot]

Quote of the night last night "ahh, nice!," spoken by forumer Kard, who I met at the meeting, in response to an insult lobbed at me by a 75 year old and highly respected community leader.  'Twas fun!

Details! Details!

[kard]

Quote of the night last night "ahh, nice!," spoken by forumer Kard, who I met at the meeting, in response to an insult lobbed at me by a 75 year old and highly respected community leader.  'Twas fun!

You missed the "I'm going to kill you! Slowly!" look I shot her after she called you "pathetic".  That's not a very nice thing to say to anybody.

[Edit]  You were attacked by Anita Gorman.

My problem with this woman is not with her fiesty-ness/fire in her spirit.  That sort of thing can and has worked wonders for her cause and motives (she made it clear to the entire room at the last meeting that it was because of her that there are trees in the park.  Whatever).  My problem with her is that she tries to overpower the input provided by the other individuals at these "public" meetings.  She is very boisterous and makes such a clamor to get her point across that others stop talking.  That is not right.

Plus, she is currently a Commissioner for the Missouri Department of Conservation.  This position is unpaid.  However, I don't necessarily think people in these positions should be acting as "the public"--they should be listening to the public.

And a quick Googling of her name turned up this:  http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascit ... 767749.htm

One more rant about her.  She's a commissioner for the Conservation Department.  That's "Con-ser-vay-shun"-->  Conserve!!  Yet she is the most outspoken person to demand more parking I have ever seen.  And she drives a large Ford Explorer (it's blue--I saw her getting out of it last time).

Thanks, staubio, for not backing down when she was trying to override the group and shut people up.  She needs to be put in her place from time to time, I think.  People need to be heard rather then allowing just one person to monopolize the entire group.

(sorry for the edits...I get worked up sometimes.)

[staubio]

Yeah, I wasn't going to back down.  It was quite clear that she was not used to being disagreed with and that her importance, reinforced by her name embroidered to her shirt, was enough to make her opinion golden.  She dropped the typical lines to discredit me, like "I've been in this city longer than you've been alive" and such, and basically dismissed my position.  When someone didn't bow to her "legacy" when she was spouting bad ideas, she went childish on me and start calling names.  Hilarious.

I plan to blog about this and I'll share more details at that time.  I have work to do for now.

[voltopt]

it sounds like she is more interested in her legacy and less in our city.
did you mention the current depressed state our city is in and hold her accountable?

[Tosspot]

You should all just come out and tell the truth about her: She's a bitch. Plain and simple.

[TheNorthlander]

Sounds like Anita showed her true colours. 

For those that think her ideas are asinine, keep up the pressure, as she is VERY well connected, especially with the Port Authority.

[LenexatoKCMO]

Why don't we just pave over the whole riverfront and make one big parking lot - that will surely attract lots of tourists and visitors. 

[kard]

Hey, what happened after I left?  I had a hot date to get to.

[trailerkid]

She dropped the typical lines to discredit me, like "I've been in this city longer than you've been alive"

So I guess this means she was involved in KC's miserable decline over the last 40 years. Congrats to her for being old and useless.

[ComandanteCero]

yeh, it's the older "been in the city for longer than you've been alive" who are revitalizing the various neighborhoods downtown, i'm sure.  They are also the same crowd that actively walk, jog and visit the park as it stands today....

Obviously their input is valued, but it certainly isn't the only one out there, and I would bet a pretty penny that the people who will actively use it day in and day out will probably be recent arrivals and younger people.

Maybe if she had worked for effective mass transit technologies such as light rail over those 50 years of city living, she wouldn't have to be so worried about where to park her SUV. 

Old school = city decaying suburban seeking SUV driving farts.

New school = city revitalizing suburban shunning mass transit taking urbanites.

Let the battle begin, hehe.