News from Unified Government of Wyandotte County/KC, KS

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Tuesday, August 17, 2010

This Week In Kansas City, Kansas

UG Committed to Improving Infrastructure

Hollywood Casino Project Along

Kohl's Opening

The Legends Outlets Sales Increase

Child Amnesty Day

Parks Department Holds Groundbreaking Ceremony for New Playgrounds

Road Construction

K-7/I-70 Interchange Open House

UG is Now on Twitter

Upcoming Meetings

Your Kansas City

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UG Committed to Improving Infrastructure

State Ave. Project Construction repairs continue on State Avenue as crews install new sidewalks and curbs from 47^th Street to 69^th street.

State Avenue is a major thoroughfare in Kansas City, Kansas that has been in much needed repair for some time now according to Public Works. The aid in stimulus funds helped move a project forward that had been put on hold for the past two years due to budget constraints.

State Ave. Road Improvements "Even in challenging and economic times leveraging every federal and state dollar to bring major improvements to our roads and infrastructure is extremely important," Mayor Joe Reardon said.

The UG was awarded $5 million last year for the State Avenue project.Construction started in mid-March of this year and is expected to be completed late this summer.

The additional stimulus funding would cover the cost for:

Road rehabilitation
Removal and replacement of curbs
New sidewalks
Inlets
Guardrails
Utilities underground repaired
New conduit for future signal light enhancements
New medians built with attractive landscaping
Overlay and pavement markings

"The State Ave corridor has always been a key east-west traffic artery for the community. Truck, bus, and car traffic volumes have always been at a high level due to the businesses located along State Ave.," Deputy Director of Public Works, Mike Tobin said. "Also, large neighborhoods and district schools use State to traverse the county traffic grid. The Stimulus funding will allow the UG to restore pavement, medians, sidewalks, and curbs on a trafficway that was much in need of repair."
State Ave. with islands
The newly reconstructed portion will have islands in the center with a brick finish. Trees and shrubs will be planted on the larger islands. The islands were removed years ago and are now being reinstalled.

"Islands always add to the safety of a major thoroughfare by controlling the access at pre-determined locations," said Fred Backus, part-time County Engineer. "But no changes were made to anyone's access points or their left turning abilities on this project."

The improvements will not only help manage increased transit, but will accommodate for the future implementation of a Bus Rapid Transit system.

Other Street Improvements

In addition to State Ave, 7^th Street just received some recent improvements. The section from Washington Blvd to Sunshine Trafficway was just completed in June of this year at a cost of approximately $1,300,000.

You can see new curbs, sidewalks, newly resurfaced streets, improved lighting and new traffic signals. The 7^th Street project was done in 5 phases beginning from the Johnson County line in Rosedale to Sunshine Trafficway in the Fairfax District. It took 6 years to complete the improvements at a combined cost of $6,000,000 through Capitol Improvement Maintenance Program (CMIP) funds. A portion of 7^th Street located in downtown KCK was not included as part of the street upgrades. 7th Street Road Project
The last time 7^th Street received this much work was more than 20 years ago when resurfacing work was done on 7^th Street and Rainbow. Curbs and sidewalks hadn't been installed dating back as far as 1950.

KDOT also kicked in some funding for resurfacing with a 50% match; amounting to approximately $800,000 of the total $6,000,000.

Quindaro from 7^th to 2^th Street

Qunidaro from 7^th to 2^nd Street is also receiving new curbs, sidewalks, and resurfacing. This project is also part of the CMIP plan at a cost of $520,000.

"Reinvesting in our urban core neighborhoods is vital as we emerge from this recession," said Reardon.

Hollywood Casino Project Along

Construction crews are moving 1-million cubic yards of earth as work on the Hollywood Casino at the Kansas Speedway is underway and on schedule.

Turner Construction is now digging for sewers, other underground utilities and roadways. Meanwhile, final architectural designs are being completed and readied to move through the approval process with the Unified Government and Kansas Lottery.

The Hollywood Casino, built along turn 2 of the Kansas Speedway, is set to open by mid 2012. The project is creating 1.500 construction jobs and will create 1,000 permanent jobs when the casino opens.

Kohl's Opening

Kohl's will be opening in September at Plaza at the Speedway.

They will be hosting a job fair for their new Speedway location at the Country Inn & Suites, 1805 North 110^th Street, on the following dates and times:

Sunday, August 8, and Monday, August 9, from 10:45 a.m. to 6:15 p.m.

Tuesday, August 10, from 12:15 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Wednesday, August 11

Thursday, August 12, from 8:45 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Interviews may be scheduled in advance by visiting www.kohlscareers.com or by calling 1-877-NEW-KOHLS (1-877-639-5645).

Legends Sales Increase

Sales at The Legends Outlets Kansas City have increased 9% since the shopping center transitioned to a high-end, upscale outlet center in March.

The 9% sales growth comes in the outlet store line-up at the Legends. There is also a 5% increase in overall traffic since the outlet conversion. A large portion of the growth is directly attributed to consumers demanding current fashions from respected brands at affordable prices in an entertainment destination setting.

Legends officials also are announcing two new premier stores at the center.The LOFT Outlet is a concept by Ann Taylor stores. It set to open this Fall.The other newcomer is Christopher & Banks, a specialty women's clothing retailer serving the baby boomer woman. It is first Kansas area location for Christopher & Banks which has 800 stores in 46 states.

Child Support Amnesty Day

Wyandotte County citizens with unpaid child support, missed court dates or other child support problems can get a fresh start at the Child Support Amnesty and Resource Fair.

The event will be held Friday, August 20, at the Village West Holiday Inn Express at I-435 and Parallel Parkway. The Amnesty Fair will run from 12 noon to 5pm.

Citizens attending the Amnesty and Resource Fair will have the opportunity to straighten out problems with the Child Support court, including making back payments, arranging new court dates and getting bench warrants lifted.

The event is also a resource fair for both payers and recipients of child support. The "Workforce One" mobile unit will be on hand assisting with online job searches and job opportunities. Representatives from local training programs and community colleges will also be there to help participants connect with jobs and job training. Information will also be available for participants to learn how to remove barriers to employment, such as old criminal convictions, and records of arrest.

Participating agencies include:

Kansas Department of SRS Child Support Enforcement
District Court Trustee for Wyandotte County
Leavenworth County Attorney's Office
Workforce Partnership Mobile One
Kansas City Kansas Community College Technical Education Center and Military Recruiters

For more information, contact Sheryl Bussell, District Court Trustee for the 29^th Judicial District Wyandotte County at 913-573-8089 or email to sbussell@wycokck.org.

Parks Department Holds Groundbreaking Ceremony for New Playgrounds

ADA Accessible Playground

Kensington Playground

The Parks and Recreation Department will hold a groundbreaking ceremony on Monday, August 30^th at 2:00 pm in Emerson Park 29th and Strong Avenue to celebrate the construction of new playgrounds in four area parks.

The new playgrounds are part of the Parks Foundation's fund raising efforts to build playgrounds throughout Wyandotte County that are accessible to all children.

"All children deserve a place to play together, regardless of their ability," said Parks and Recreation Director, Gary Salva.

The Foundation's goal for 2010 is to replace eight existing facilities with modern playgrounds. The anticipated replacement cost for the eight playgrounds is $400,000. Emerson, City Park, Quindaro, and Shawnee will be the first four of the eight parks identified to receive the new playground equipment. The T-Bones are a major contributor and supporter of the Foundation's goal to improve the park system. The ball club contributed $200,000 for the construction of the first four playgrounds through the "T-Bones Uncommitted Recreation Fund."

Also in addition to the T-Bones fundraising efforts, The Kansas City Renaissance Festival is co-sponsoring the 2010 Annual Fund Raising Dinner to help raise funds for the installation of new playgrounds.

This is the kind of partnership and support the Parks Foundation is seeking to assist with this major-fund raising effort for our young residents. The Foundation is hoping other organizations, churches, and residents will step forward to support this great project, Salva said.

The Foundation has created an information video that announces the Accessible Playground Project. To request a copy of this video, simply e-mail your request to dhurrelbrink@wycokck.org. The Foundation invites the community to come out to the event.

The first four playgrounds are expected to be completed by October of this year.

Road Construction

Based on information provided by the Kansas Department of Transportation, the UG is able to provide motorist with a list of roads and highways that are scheduled for construction.
This information can be useful to prepare individuals, commuting to and from work, with early warnings on minor delays. This also encourages drivers to use alternate routes due to lane and ramp closures.

Visit the KDOT website for up to date information on lane and ramp closures:

www.ksdot.org/kcmetro/laneclose.asp

K-7/I-70 Interchange Open House

The Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) is holding a public open house to discuss the current status of the K-7 and I-70 Interchange in Bonner Springs. The public meeting will be held from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, August 25 at the Bonner Springs High School (100 McDanield, Bonner Springs, Kansas 66012). Short, identical presentations will be given at both 5:20 p.m. and 6:20 p.m.

KDOT has identified the funding needed to complete final design plans for Phases 1-3 of the interchange and construction of the Riverview Avenue and 118th Street Bridges, including realignment of 122nd Street and Riverview Avenue (Phase 2). Construction for Phase 2 is anticipated to begin in late 2012. The open house style format will allow area residents, businesses, and commuters to review detailed project maps, listen to a presentation, and provide comments anytime during the evening. KDOT staff, along with consultant team members, will be on hand to answer questions and discuss issues and/or concerns.

The display materials will show KDOT's progress to-date on the final design plans for the first three phases of the interchange. Phase 1 improvements include the addition of a new traffic signal at the intersection of K-7 and Speaker Road, the addition of a loop ramp to both the northwest and southwest quadrants of the existing K-7 and I-70 interchange, and the removal of the overpass and existing I-70 ramps from the southeast quadrant of the interchange. Phase 2 involves rebuilding bridges over I-70 at Riverview Avenue and 118th Street and realigning 122nd Street and Riverview Avenue. Phase 3 will shift I-70 to the south and widen it to six lanes between K-7 and 110th Street.

There is currently no funding for design plans or right-of-way acquisition for the remainder of the ultimate 10 phases of the interchange, or the construction of any improvements other than the bridge and realignment work in Phase 2. When additional funding becomes available, Phase 1 is anticipated to be the next phase that will be constructed.

The ultimate K-7 and I-70 Interchange project will respond to the area's increasing traffic demands and economic development needs, while improving safety. In response to congestion issues, KDOT constructed a second left turn lane onto southbound K-7 from the I-70 exit ramp and added new traffic signals at the intersection of K-7 and Canaan Drive in 2009.

For more information, visit the project website at www.k7andi70interchange.org. If you require a sign-language interpreter or other communication aids at the meeting, please call Kimberly Qualls, KDOT Public Affairs Manager at (785) 296-3881 at least one week in advance of the meeting.

Agendas and Minutes To view standing committee and full commission agendas and minutes, go to the Unified Government Website at www.wycokck.org.

Ordinances, meeting Agendas and Minutes are available and readily accessible on the Internet. So it's easy to find items and actions the Unified Government Commission and its Standing Committees are taking.

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