Kansas City: Public Improvement Advisory Committee (Aug. 21, 2026)

By Jordan Gloor, Kansas City Documenter

These notes were produced through Kansas City Documenters, which trains and pays community members to take fact-checked notes at public meetings, strengthening transparency and accountability in local government.

 Summary

• The committee heard from city employees in water, sidewalk, street preservation, Vision Zero and city planning departments on how they approach PIAC applications. Decisions about city improvements are increasingly data-driven, especially in street preservation.
• How the city will handle maintenance of alleyways and repair of Blue River Road remains unclear.
• Residents are encouraged to submit PIAC applications early in the funding year, especially for Vision Zero-related requests, to make sure the city has time to respond thoroughly. Additionally, residents were advised to focus on explaining problems rather than requesting specific solutions.

Notes

• Stormwater
  • Representatives from the Water Services Department presented on how their department processes stormwater-related PIAC applications.
    • They use a numerical rating system of 0 to 100 to determine how serious the issue is, how ready the project is for construction and other factors.
      • An application will get a zero if the department determines it’s a private property problem, but the department will still issue cost estimates and recommendations.
      • Higher-rated applications get approved and contracts for project construction then begin.
    • Last year, the water department received 86 PIAC applications, and 19 were approved for a cost of $3 million. This year, 51 applications have been received so far, and they expect a total of around 80 by the end of the application window.
    • Projects addressing sinkholes in the 1st District and backyard flooding and channel rehabilitation in the 6th District were presented as PIAC examples.
  • During a question-and-answer period, a water department staffer clarified that recent voter-approved bonds would not fund stormwater improvements because the funding is earmarked for the water system and wastewater.

• Sidewalks
  • Daisy Dixon, who oversees sidewalks in Public Works, said the city has 2,000 miles of sidewalks. “That’s like going to Branson nine times.”
    • The department has completed a backlog of sidewalk work since voters approved $800 million in general obligation bonds in April 2017. “But it seems like it is building up again,” she said.
    • In the 2025-26 fiscal year, the department cleared more than 36,000 trip hazards and installed more than 177,000 linear feet of sidewalk. 
    • Dixon explained that sidewalk project costs vary for PIAC requests. For instance, a spot repair costs roughly $175 per linear foot while a new sidewalk on a collector or arterial road can cost approximately $1,000 per linear foot of sidewalk.
    • Nearly all of the “safe school” sidewalk projects have been completed, except for Nashua Elementary School in the North Kansas City school district and Park Hill High School. “That one (Park Hill) is kind of a hot topic, but is currently in design.”
    • Public Works gets $5 million for sidewalks and another $2.5 million for ADA ramps, specifically, from the G.O. bond. PIAC funding has averaged about $15 million annually.
    • The department has completed at least five of its current 91 projects.
    • In the Q & A section, Dixon said:
      • Public Works has four sidewalk contractors.
      • Staff would provide clarification about whether contracts require that curbs and sidewalks be repaired when bike lanes are being installed.

• Street Preservation
  • Public Works Transportation Director Jason Waldron said street preservation is a “great example of where we want to be with all our assets” because the department uses data to predict needs rather than making decisions by sight or in response to requests.
  • He said it would take $600 million to make all the needed repairs on city streets. 
  • Presenter Garrett Ross said:
    • Every two years, a vehicle loaded with sensors drives every one of KC’s streets and collects data on cracking, rutting, potholes and more, inputting it to the city’s “asset management system.” Data from those scans are used in planning work, creating an “Overall Condition Index” (OCI) rating to determine what, if any, repairs are necessary.
    • Ross noted that street preservation’s budget of $40 million is twice that of 2019, meaning a lot of deferred maintenance is being addressed.
      • Ross noted the street preservation website, which displays progress in resurfacing that he updates daily.
      • Ross also noted that the department uses its OCI ratings when considering PIAC requests.
  • In the Q & A session, Ross said:
    • “Blue River Road in general is a challenge because, as you know, there is a portion of that roadway both in 5th and 6th District that is closed.” 
    • “We have started to look at more innovative and creative approaches,” Ross added. “I can assure you that the conversation hasn’t ended.”
    • The department is gathering data to determine a price tag for repairing alleyways. It is estimated the city has around 92 miles of alleyways. The cost to repair all of them could be around $78 million.

• Vision Zero
  • Angie Laurie, associate director of transportation, and Selina Zapata Bur, transportation planning manager, spoke on KC’s Vision Zero program, an initiative to eliminate roadway fatalities and serious injuries by 2030.
    • The presentation showed “high injury intersections,” with 43 severe, 42 high and 78 moderate-level injury rates.
    • Zapata Bur pointed to a lower number of crashes in 2025, crediting the 2023 and 2024 projects that targeted severe and moderate injury corridors and intersections. She was optimistic the downward trend would continue.
    • Vision Zero is responsible for efforts to install neighborhood traffic humps, raised sidewalks, traffic circles and road diets.
    • A new “SafeAcross” crosswalk compliance program will begin this fall, “which will involve doing crosswalk compliance studies at a lot of different crosswalks in the city, as well as raising awareness about folks crossing.”
    • Laurie spoke on planned Vision Zero projects, noting that PIAC projects “often include Vision Zero-supported elements.”
      • “With last year’s budget, we were also able to fully fund two new signal installations at locations that were on the high injury network or had observed recent crash events supportive of pedestrian improvements near the UMKC campus.”
    • Laurie noted several corridor projects in the works across the city, including Gregory Boulevard, 23rd Street and Ninth Street. Another set of 10 intersections and 10 corridors will be subject to safety audits in the coming year as well.
    • Laurie noted that the Vision Zero program is working with less funding this year than previous, but added, “I believe that the end of this fiscal year and looking at fiscal year ‘28, the impact will continue to expand because of the ability we have had in setting up a program that is integrated with our other public works divisions, so that we can pipeline concepts and design into grant opportunities, the city CIP program, in coordination with other PIAC programs as well.”
  • In the Q & A session, staff said:
    • The team uses a traffic operations manual with technical specifications and guidelines in response to each PIAC request. The department encourages applicants to define the problem rather than ask for a specific solution because some of the guidelines may recommend different solutions to a problem than the applicant requests.
    • Since requests tend to pile up late in the application season, PIAC applicants were also encouraged to file early. That enables Public Works to review their requests more thoroughly and make more tailored recommendations.
• City Planning
  • Gerald Williams, division manager for community planning, spoke about the role of the City Planning and Development Department in meeting PIAC requests. Williams said:
    • PIAC requests he sees usually pertain to vacant lots. “Somebody sees a vacant property in their community; they want to see something happen there,” he said. One problem is that the city often does not own the land in question.
      • Williams’ department recommends a “development feasibility study” to each of these requests, where a contractor would evaluate the site’s environmental, title, infrastructure and regulatory issues and come up with “an implementation plan [of] how you might put some of these vacant properties back into productive use” for the neighborhood organizations, property owners and any other stakeholders involved. These studies would cost between $25,000 and $50,000 depending on site size.
      • Requests related to city-owned property are handled differently, with General Services.
  • In the Q & A session, Williams said:
    • His department has been involved in city efforts to address the blighted Robandee Shopping Center at 8300 E. Bannister Road. Work includes developing a strategic plan for the broader area.

• The next meeting is set for Sept. 18, and plans for G.O. bonds will be discussed there.

Observations & Follow-Up Questions

• How long will it take for the city to make a plan for improving Blue River Road?
• If alleyways can’t be repaired until they’re in the city’s asset management system to allow for a budget to be created for it, how long will it take for the city to develop or acquire the technology to do that?
• How can the city address the “horribly underfunded” state of stormwater budgeting? 

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