Correction (Nov. 27, 2024): This story has been corrected to reflect that North Chouteau Trafficway is not on the list of proposed road diets and Paseo Boulevard is still in the study phase. A small portion of Emanuel Cleaver II Boulevard and 23rd Street are in the first batch of diets. If you’re driving to […]
Traffic
Posted inKansas City
How to request a crosswalk, speed hump or stop sign in Kansas City
You’re haunted by the sounds of squealing tires and crumpling metal interrupting your breakfast or waking you up in the night. Maybe you’re convinced a stop sign or a speed bump could make things safer.
Brace for a fight with City Hall and the need to think like a traffic engineer. But it is possible to change things.
Posted inLocal Government
Kansas City knows which streets are most dangerous. Now, it’s trying to fix them
Traffic experts and city planners in Kansas City have tried to make it quick and easy to drive in and out of downtown.
At the time, it was great for getting office workers home in time for dinner.
But over the years, interstates and highways bloomed to carry commuters into and out of the city center more quickly. That meant four-lane surface streets became an overbuilt legacy. With so many lanes and so little traffic, drivers went faster and the roads became, counterintuitively, more dangerous.
Posted inLocal Government
Downtown parking changes leave Wichita businesses worried
Stewart’s Jewelry and the Hilton Garden Inn don’t compete for customers — just for parking. The Hilton, on the corner of South Topeka Street and Douglas Avenue, dwarfs the family-owned jewelry store next door. Customers of both businesses — and sometimes employees — compete for spaces in front of the two establishments. “If I don’t […]
Posted inData, Local Government
A post-pandemic oddity: Wichita has fewer car crashes, but more traffic deaths
The COVID-19 pandemic has many ongoing side effects — increased drinking, worse mental health and increased risk of diabetes, cancer and other diseases. And, in Wichita and other places, more traffic deaths. The increase in deaths comes despite a drop in auto accidents. Exactly why isn’t clear. “We just do not know why,” said Chad […]
Posted inData, Local Government
Wichita’s roads are more dangerous than Johnson County’s. Here are the five worst spots
Nearly every day, vehicles collide at one of five Wichita intersections. Three of those locations fall along Kellogg Drive. In all, the city saw more than 10,000 crashes last year. And although Johnson County, Kansas, is home to about 80,000 more people, Sedgwick County traffic accidents killed and injured more people and caused more costly […]
Posted inKansas State Government, Local Government
Trains can block intersections for hours. Neither Kansas nor Wichita can do much about it
While many people headed out for a date on Valentine’s Day, others were stuck behind the wheels of their cars — waiting and then waiting longer. Along Broadway Street from 21st to 37th streets, a train sat on the tracks unmoving. The railroad crossing signals rang for hours. Drivers had to choose between making a […]
Posted inLocal Government
Kansas City pedestrians push for safer roads
Takeaways: This story originally stated the wrong year that the Kansas City Council approved the Vision Zero plan; it also misstated the role that BikeWalkKC plays, it’s an advocate for street changes; it listed the wrong title for Amy Scrivner; and it confused the number of traffic deaths, the city had 82 accidents that each […]
Posted inEducation
Falling through the (sidewalk) cracks: Why it’s so hard for Wichita students to walk to school
The five minutes Margaret Shabazz and her daughter Essence spend walking to Park Elementary School every morning are some of the best moments they share. On their way to the school on North Main Street, the mother and kindergartner pass neighbors and other students and parents. It’s pleasing to see everyone each morning, Shabazz said. […]
Posted inEducation
Few Wichita students walk to school. Here’s why they should.
It’s not every day that fifth graders Terrance Brobst and Jackson Fasig get to walk to school together, but the days they do are some of their favorites. It’s one of the things they missed most when they were stuck at home during the pandemic’s remote learning stages. “We get to walk, talk with our […]