RESOLUTION NO. 071092

Expressing the support of the Mayor and Council for the integration of multi-modal accommodations, including bicycle, pedestrian and public transit, into the design of the new Paseo Bridge and directing the City Clerk to distribute copies of this resolution to appropriate officials.

WHEREAS, the Missouri Department of Transportation is in the planning stages for a new Paseo Bridge; and

WHEREAS, the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission is scheduled to award the project on November 14, 2007; and

WHEREAS, this new bridge is a special opportunity for the Kansas City area because the project is now funded and will be accomplished; and

WHEREAS, it is essential that the current and future needs of people be considered and integrated into the development of the new bridge; and

WHEREAS, no bridge in the Kansas City area provides safe bicycling or pedestrian access across the Missouri River; and

WHEREAS, every major bridge, planned or built, in Missouri in recent years has included bicycling and/or pedestrian access, these bridges including:

  Lexington (Highway 13)

Boonville (Highway 40)

Herman (Highway 19 planned)

Washington (Highway 47 planned)

St. Louis (Page Avenue)

St. Louis (Chain of Rocks Bridge)

St. Louis ( Eads Bridge - walkway)

St. Louis ( McKinley Bridge bicycle lanes)

Cape Girardeau (Emerson Bridge)

Hannibal (I-72 Bridge)

WHEREAS, the St. Louis area has multiple bridges incorporating bicycling and pedestrian access across the Missouri River and Mississippi River, including:

Page Avenue Bridge

Chain of Rocks Bridge

Eads Bridge

McKinley Bridge

Lewis and Clark Bridge

Highway 360 Bridge

  WHEREAS, inclusion of bicycle and pedestrian access has become the standard practice in the planning and construction of bridges similar to the new Paseo Bridge throughout the United States; and

WHEREAS, the importance of establishing bicycle, pedestrian and public transit access across the Missouri River for the current development and welfare of the Kansas City area cannot be overstated; NOW, THEREFORE,

BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF KANSAS CITY:

Section 1. That the Mayor and Council strongly urge the Missouri Department of Transportation to incorporate into the planning and construction of the new Paseo Bridge bicycle, pedestrian and public transit access across the Missouri River.

Section 2. That the Mayor and Council direct the City Clerk to provide copies of this resolution to the following officials to reinforce the Mayor and Councils strong commitment to the development of appropriate and necessary bicycle, pedestrian and public transit access across the Missouri River as part of the new Paseo Bridge project:

Governor Matt Blunt

Senator Christopher Kit Bond

Senator Claire McCaskill

Congressman Sam Graves

Congressman Emanual Cleaver II

Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission

Commissioner James Anderson, Chair

Commissioner Duane Michie, Vice Chair

Commissioner Bill McKenna

Commissioner Michael Leo Kehoe

Commissioner David Gach

Commissioner Rudolph E. Farber

 

Pete Rahn, Director, Missouri Department of Transportation

 

Kevin Keith, Chief Engineer, Missouri Department of Transportation

 

Elizabeth Wright, District 4 Chief Engineer

 

Brian Kidwell, kcIcon Project Director

 

Missouri Department of Transportation Community Advisory Group

Ed Bradley, Platte County

Lizzie Brown, Chouteau Courts Neighborhood Association

Michael Burke, City of Kansas City

Mell Henderson, MARC

Dick Holwick, Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce

Tim Kristl, Northland Regional Chamber of Commerce

Larry Larson, Clay County

Ali Roohanirad, Jackson County

Daniel Serda, Downtown Council

Mike Smith, City of North Kansas City

Mike Sturgeon, Columbus Park and Guinotte Manor Neighborhood

Associations

John Wagner, Sr., North Kansas City Business Council

 

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