Capping the Loop

[AlkaliAxel]

Pork projects from an infrastructure bill? Gee...no way?

I don't think you'll have to worry about pork being used in a political way, there will hundreds of pork projects coming out of the infrastructure bill. That's pretty much what they are.

[WoodDraw]

Pork projects from an infrastructure bill? Gee...no way?

I don't think you'll have to worry about pork being used in a political way, there will hundreds of pork projects coming out of the infrastructure bill. That's pretty much what they are.

It’s a competitive program, not earmarked.

[AlkaliAxel]

Pork projects from an infrastructure bill? Gee...no way?

I don't think you'll have to worry about pork being used in a political way, there will hundreds of pork projects coming out of the infrastructure bill. That's pretty much what they are.

It’s a competitive program, not earmarked.

He was saying it's like pork because the cap isn't helping a depleted community like it was intended, and I'm saying that's not a shocker. Terms are loose.

[DaveKCMO]

I stand by what I said. Too many interested parties for this not to happen.

I'm not disagreeing with the sentiment that it will happen, just that it's way too early to program a space that hasn't been designed or funded for construction.

I also don't think this is the most obvious KC candidate for the Reconnecting Communities program (that would be US-71, which clearly divided a community of color and is currently generating an abnormal amount of roadway injuries and fatalities). Remember that these are competitive programs.

Has there been any 71 study? Trying to picture how that would work. I agree with you though.

Yes: https://ridekc.org/planning/connecting-swope

[normalthings]

I was thinking more a study of removal

[DaveKCMO]

I was thinking more a study of removal

Nope. The South Loop Link isn't a removal, and the North Loop study had options that didn't involve removal. I-35 through the Westside has only been discussed as tunnel or relocating to the bluffs AFAIK.

[normalthings]

I was thinking more a study of removal

Nope. The South Loop Link isn't a removal, and the North Loop study had options that didn't involve removal. I-35 through the Westside has only been discussed as tunnel or relocating to the bluffs AFAIK.

71 Removal Study*

IIRC 670/South Loop was originally studied as a potential tunnel. Have not hear about 35 being a tunnel. Just talk or something from semi official sources?

[DaveKCMO]

I was thinking more a study of removal

Nope. The South Loop Link isn't a removal, and the North Loop study had options that didn't involve removal. I-35 through the Westside has only been discussed as tunnel or relocating to the bluffs AFAIK.

71 Removal Study*

IIRC 670/South Loop was originally studied as a potential tunnel. Have not hear about 35 being a tunnel. Just talk or something from semi official sources?

Requested by the affected neighborhoods. Of course MoDOT didn't take it seriously, and to prove that they simply redecked + modified the paint on the viaduct to avoid triggering any formal review that would have to accept public comment into the record.

[AlkaliAxel]

I know they have the giant steps in the renderings (which are awesome) but maybe they should also consider putting in a piece of art like 'the Bean' in Chicago on the other end of the cap park as well? I just can't imagine a better place to put a big iconic piece of art than on the cap park. Combine it with those steps on the other end and you have a renown park.

[AlkaliAxel]

Infrastructure bill signed into law today. Cap time!!

[WoodDraw]

I haven't read the bill language but it'll be interesting to see how KC does here.

The pluses are that I think we could come up with a local match fairly quickly

The negative is that it's reconnecting two fairly posh neighborhoods. I'd be a huge beneficiary of this, but it would be a struggle to call myself underserved or disconnected.

You're effectively talking about building a park for well off people. I wouldn't be shocked if we get passed over here.

[normalthings]

I haven't read the bill language but it'll be interesting to see how KC does here.

The pluses are that I think we could come up with a local match fairly quickly

The negative is that it's reconnecting two fairly posh neighborhoods. I'd be a huge beneficiary of this, but it would be a struggle to call myself underserved or disconnected.

You're effectively talking about building a park for well off people. I wouldn't be shocked if we get passed over here.

East/West rail and Gondola may be better projects for the reconnecting communities grants

[WoodDraw]

I haven't read the bill language but it'll be interesting to see how KC does here.

The pluses are that I think we could come up with a local match fairly quickly

The negative is that it's reconnecting two fairly posh neighborhoods. I'd be a huge beneficiary of this, but it would be a struggle to call myself underserved or disconnected.

You're effectively talking about building a park for well off people. I wouldn't be shocked if we get passed over here.

East/West rail and Gondola may be better projects for the reconnecting communities grants

It seems like the secretary has more discretionary power than normal. As I admitted, I haven’t read the bill, but I assume there will be a flood of requests.

[AlkaliAxel]

I haven't read the bill language but it'll be interesting to see how KC does here.

The pluses are that I think we could come up with a local match fairly quickly

The negative is that it's reconnecting two fairly posh neighborhoods. I'd be a huge beneficiary of this, but it would be a struggle to call myself underserved or disconnected.

You're effectively talking about building a park for well off people. I wouldn't be shocked if we get passed over here.

East/West rail and Gondola may be better projects for the reconnecting communities grants

It seems like the secretary has more discretionary power than normal. As I admitted, I haven’t read the bill, but I assume there will be a flood of requests.

The mayor and others seem pretty set on wanting any money to go to the cap, and they seemed to have done the due diligence on getting this set up and matched- as you mentioned before. Cap is also much cheaper option. I think money would go to this before E-W rail or gondola which would cost significantly more than the cap would.

[AlkaliAxel]

"KC Mayor Quinton Lucas says he was on the 2nd row at the Biden Infrastructure bill signing. Says Bridges, solar panels at KCI, remodeling Barry Allis Plaza and decking I-670 could be projects for the money."

https://twitter.com/KCMikeMahoney/statu ... 07268?s=20

[DaveKCMO]

Cap is also much cheaper option.

Perhaps judging by just the price tag, but the cap only impacts a few blocks of downtown which have already gentrified. Other projects in the region could be more impactful to a broader population or address actual equity issues (which the 670 cap simply does not do).

[AlkaliAxel]

Wow- no money awarded to the South Loop Link $2.4 mil RAISE grant in this round. This was the same grant Lucas said he was “bullish” on.

https://twitter.com/kclightrail/status/ ... 46532?s=21

I must say I am genuinely shocked by this one- I thought we’d get it since we had matches good to go.

Can they still get these funds soon at all from the recently passed infrastructure bill? I don’t believe the RAISE grant funds were related to the bill.

[WoodDraw]

We have matches good to go?

[AlkaliAxel]

We have matches good to go?

It said in the article that they $600k matched for the $2.4 mil. Also DCole has said the local funding in lined up for the overall project as well.

At this point though I just want to know if we can still get it from the overall infrastructure bill.

[FangKC]

Don't get your hopes up. Many of the decisions about how and where the money is spent will be made by a GOP governor from a rural area, and a heavily-GOP legislature that is full of conservative rural legislators, and where, when an urban area gets funding, it's often St. Louis-centric.

It won't surprise me that the state will spend most of the money repairing interstate highways, and building wider ones, and repairing rural bridges. A lot of this money will likely go to widening I-70.

Don't expect them to be equitable or even consider long-standing racial disparities in the equation. I predict some will just say they don't exist.

The only hope for KC are the direct federal grants, which the City will have to compete to get.

States have the power to make or break the infrastructure law

...
In the coming months — and years — federal agencies will distribute billions of dollars for everything from bridge repairs to public transit expansions to bike paths. Most of this money will go directly to state governments, which will have significant discretion over which projects they’d like to fund.

The state officials who oversee most civilian infrastructure projects will soon face tough decisions about which communities will get this money. Because the bill doesn’t include enough funding to cover the entirety of the country’s infrastructure needs, states and other regional entities will have to decide which roads get repaired, which lead pipes get replaced, and which bridges get restored, a process that has in the past left certain low-income communities and communities of color with poor access to adequate infrastructure.

They’ll have significant discretion over how much of the funding will be spent.
...

https://www.vox.com/2021/11/15/22772627 ... ress-biden

Personally, I think the Feds should help finance some of the water/sewer issues that Kansas City must replace because of EPA mandates.