The Broadway "beautification" project.

DiggityDawg · Post by **DiggityDawg** » Wed Feb 19, 2003 9:48 pm

I don't mean to be negative for negative's sake here, but does anyone else think it looks like this project has been done really half-assed ( so far, at least ) ? There's been some new asphalt, but on the same stretch of road there's all kinds of other damage still. And what was the idea with scraping part of the road by the Downtown Airport down to the bone & not repaving it? It's like driving on ice even in nice weather.

KCPowercat · Post by **KCPowercat** » Thu Feb 20, 2003 9:06 am

yeah it does seem very odd. Hopefully once spring hits they will hit it full force...that is a major entry way into downtown, got to have it looking good.

I noticed the past few days they are putting up the equipment to start painting the bridge again.

Post by **dangerboy** » Thu Feb 20, 2003 9:59 am

I remember reading somewhere that once they started on the project they found something wrong, might have been asbestos or lead-based paint or something, and that it delayed the whole repainting project by a year or so. I believe it was orginally supposed to have been finished by now.

KCPowercat · Post by **KCPowercat** » Thu Feb 20, 2003 10:13 am

They've got most of the underside done from what I could tell, now they are going to get going on the parts everybody sees and cares about.

Here's a picture from last summer:

DiggityDawg · Post by **DiggityDawg** » Thu Feb 20, 2003 3:21 pm

Ah...thanks for the info & pic - the whole bridge is gonna be silver, then? I was wondering if that was the final coat or if it was some kind of primer.

At least they didn't go with the "Chiefs Red" color I heard was nominated a couple years back.

KCPowercat · Post by **KCPowercat** » Thu Feb 20, 2003 3:34 pm

well good and bad news...it's going to be gray but it's going to have red lights on it (actually the lights will be changeable but they can't be blue because they are too close to the airport)

tat2kc · Post by **tat2kc** » Thu Feb 20, 2003 5:03 pm

they quit painting because the paint will not adhere properly in very cold weather. They are installing the scaffolds that will protect cars on the roadway from paint and debris. I think they are planning to resume the painting after the final frost date, which is may 1.

KCPowercat · Post by **KCPowercat** » Tue Jun 03, 2003 7:56 am

Driving to work today I saw they had the light fixtures (w/ their red lenses) on the Broadway bridge.

The 3 bridges are supposed to be completely lit by July 4, 2004 for the Lewis & Clark celebration.

QueSi2Opie · Post by **QueSi2Opie** » Wed Jun 04, 2003 12:17 pm

KC wrote:Driving to work today I saw they had the light fixtures (w/ their red lenses) on the Broadway bridge.

The 3 bridges are supposed to be completely lit by July 4, 2004 for the Lewis & Clark celebration.

I know. This is really something to get excited about since the Fed abandoned the core. Now hopefully the City Manager can get the ball rollin' and have downtown lookin' nice for future business development/redevelopment, he seems ready to put everyone on track after his "D" assessment of downtown.

Midtownkid · Post by **Midtownkid** » Wed Jun 04, 2003 6:03 pm

Is the sliver-ish part of the broadway bridge the actual color it is going to end up being or is that just a primer? I hope it's not paint because it looks like shit. (it's already rusting)

KCPowercat · Post by **KCPowercat** » Wed Jun 04, 2003 6:40 pm

I don't like it either....at least the green stood out, once that thing is all grey, it's going to disappear (until it's night time)

I'm hoping that's just the primer but with the length of time it's taking them, I bet that's the final coat....I think it's impossible to keep a bridge like that from showing rust (at least in my paint experience and I worked at Sherwin-Williams for a long time)

Post by **dangerboy** » Wed Jun 04, 2003 7:37 pm

Light gray is the official color. You need a neutral color for the light thing to look good. I'm the rust is just falling from above where they are stripping the old paint. It looks more like dust on top, than actual rust in the metal.

http://www.downtownkc.org/bridge.html

KCPowercat · Post by **KCPowercat** » Wed Jun 04, 2003 7:39 pm

Yeah I like the night version of it but if this is the final color, I'm underimpressed but I understand it had to be a neutral color for the lights to work right.

I hope that's just dust of the rust but it looks like it's new rust.....getting pictures is almost impossible with all the traffic, road closures but I'll give it a shot.

KCgridlock · Post by **KCgridlock** » Wed Jun 04, 2003 9:35 pm

I have heard that thing is already rusting again. I hope it's just an illusion.

The bridge will be grey. Kinda wierd, but it will be sweet at night. I just hope the lights protected from vandals. The light at the new riverfront park are alway being torn up and have been completley removed near the Paseo Bridge. That pisses me off.

DiggityDawg · Post by **DiggityDawg** » Wed Jun 04, 2003 9:36 pm

I was assuming the chunk that's done at this point was just a primer or first coat, too. If that's the final product this thing's gonna look awful when it's done.

KCgridlock · Post by **KCgridlock** » Wed Jun 04, 2003 9:51 pm

DiggityDawg wrote:I was assuming the chunk that's done at this point was just a primer or first coat, too. If that's the final product this thing's gonna look awful when it's done.

That's what I thought, but as far as I know, it's the final color. Like the old ASB Bridge.

KCPowercat · Post by **KCPowercat** » Wed Jun 04, 2003 10:00 pm

Yeah I think we're just going to have to close our eyes during the day....it will look great at night....

The lights are HUGE....they go up like every steel rope and are at least a foot tall and 18"-24" long.....they are currently installed on the NE corner of the bridge and wrapped in plastic wrap.

Not sure how protected they will be but they should be big enough to hold up to a lot of abuse...plus they will be over the edge so a little less likely for people to mess with them.

KCPowercat · Post by **KCPowercat** » Tue Jun 17, 2003 4:57 pm

OK, our fears have been calmed...that dark gray is only the primer, they started putting the finish coat on the north end of the bridge today.....here's a picture....excuse the quality, my new Sprint camera phone isn't quite as high of pixel quality as the digital camera but it's all I had available.

I like this much better...look good during the day and show the red much better at night...

BTW, all the lights are now installed.

DiggityDawg · Post by **DiggityDawg** » Tue Jun 17, 2003 5:57 pm

I saw that new white paint on the way to work this afternoon, & let out a big-ass "WHEW!!!"

I think it's gonna look OK when it's all done, too - especially lit up.

KCLofts · Post by **KCLofts** » Wed Jun 18, 2003 1:07 am

Glad to see the dark gray is not the final coat. It looked like crap - not necessarily the color, but the coverage. I was worried that was the color because it doesn't seem to make a lot of sense to put up all of the scaffolding twice - once to sandblast and prime and once for finish coat. Seems like they would do everything before moving the hanging scaffolding. Maybe they're getting paid by the hour?

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