Kansas City's New Grand Boulevard Bridge Should Be Better For Bikes, Cars And Feet | KCUR

Headlines are quick hits from media outlets from Missouri and around the world. Follow the headline link for the full story. The source of this headline says:

The new Grand Boulevard Bridge over I-670 in downtown Kansas City, Missouri, re-opened on Friday morning.

Structural issues, such as falling chunks of concrete and cracks, led to an emergency bridge closure in May. The Missouri Department of Transportation decided the aging bridge should be torn down and replaced. . . .

"When we first started [in 2006] there were really narrow sidewalks, it was a scary thing to walk across here," says Woodfill. "And now all four of these bridges are part of a pedestrian corridor that has an open flow of movement of pedestrians across from the Power & Light [District] into the Crossroads and back and forth."

This "latest iteration," as Woodfill puts it, re-works the glass panels. New additions include benches along the 12-foot sidewalks, bicycle lanes and acoustic buffering from the highway traffic.

Link: 

Kansas City's New Grand Boulevard Bridge Should Be Better For Bikes, Cars And Feet | KCUR

MoBikeFed comment: These bridges connecting downtown Kansas City to the rest of the city to the south are very important connections for bicycling and walking--and for keeping the downtown area vital and walkable. Kansas City still has a long ways to go before it becomes the walkable, bicycleable city it should be, but projects like these are definitely steps in the right direction.