Accident, No Treat

Coming home last night at 6:30 and came upon an accident on Amity by 68th Terrace. Looked like three vehicles, two with a fair amount of damage. Could have been a double rear end as the third car was waiting to turn on to 68th. Traffic at 5:45 when I came through the first time was heavy and fast, nobody going 25 for sure. Oh well, life in the fast lane!

The Funkster in a Bunkster

Today's KC Star indicates the Funk has taken refuge at his home office to evade the new rule aimed at keeping his wife Gloria out of City Hall. Additionally his honor has been busy trying to get light rail on track. BRB? I don't think it is on the Funks top 10/50/100 or 500 Things To Do List. Oh well, November 2010 isn't all that far off, is it?

More Poles

Like magic, many of the poles were planted yesterday on Amity. I assume they were placed in the right of way, wow, a lot further into the field than I thought.

Poles, Update

Apparently the utility poles on the east side of Amity in the vicinity of the "bean field" are being moved to the west side of Amity as part for the prep for Barry Road. The new intersection of Amity/Barry/Eastside Drive will have the roads meet perpendicular to each other as opposed to the current offset of the roads.

Redux

The barricade at Amity and Barry once again has been battered. I guess it is possible it was the wind on Sunday afternoon, but judging by what is left of the barricade, there is a vehicle somewhere in need of a body shop.

Emergency Response

KCMO Fire responded to a request for help at WL yesterday afternoon. Not sure how they got to Potomac Ave, but for sure it wasn't via the BRB. Precious minutes lost, navigating the BRB detour.

No Nucs!

In addition to saving you from disaster on the BRB, Ed Ford is making you safe from nucs as well...thus his lone Council vote against the proposal for the plant in south KC. He might be better suited for duty in San Francisco where the citizens next week will vote on a referendum to allow prostitution...wonder how Ed would vote on that one?

Poles

Naw, not speaking about the citizens of Poland, I talking about the new utility poles laying alongside Amity on the property fondly referred to as the "bean field". Where are they going?

Snails Pace

A contingent from WL met with KCMO Public Works folks on the 21st, discussion centered mainly on movement/consolidation of water lines on Barry Road project. Another meeting scheduled for Nov 4th after the bids have been awarded...should be interesting. In the meantime progress @ Park Hill is best described as Snails Pace. Should be a fascinating winter.

Progress Report from Platte County

Although info from KCMO is scant, Platte Cty continues to plug along. A report was recently sent by Bob Heim (bheim@co.platte.mo.us) regarding an update. This is the piece of Barry Road from Potomac west to Chariton. Info includes, " The typical road section design is now complete and final construction drawings are expected to be complete by the end of October 2008 and "Twenty-five of the thirty property appraisals have been completed and the Right of Way/easement packages are being assembled by PCPW. Initial meetings with the property owners are expected to begin in October 2008." " MGE and AT&T have completed their relocation design work. Work for these contractors can begin once the Right of Way acquisition is complete.

Construction will occur after property acquisition, utility relocation and bidding is complete. Currently anticipate starting Phase I Construction Summer 2009.

Bake Sale

Intriguing idea borrowed from my WL blog...how about a bake sale to raise funds for the BRB?

Slip and Slide

Hard to think about winter but...
What happens on the "unofficial" detour route (Crawford/Beech/Wayland, etc) when we have a snow/ice event? How quickly/slowly does KCMO service the roads in Wildwood? Have you ever driven a bumper car at an amusement park?

What is the cost of a temporary bridge?

It depends. Two of the cost estimates submitted by Ed Ford to Jerry Bos include cost of a "temporary bridge". Option 2C quotes $212,000, Option 3, $500,000.

Cones

Busted barricade replaced yesterday with cones, maybe the barricade budget is used up?

Update: Today @ 8:30 the above was correct, by 10AM the cones had been replaced by a barricade.

Busted!

Motorists still having problems navigating the BRB detour...hard to say what caused this crash at the barricade on the east end of the closure (Amity/Barry). Early on, the barricade at the west end (Beech/Barry) met the same demise. Wonder how the "soldiers" along Barry @ Park Hill are going to fare?

Just in case

One of the interesting line items in the $1.6 million fix proposed by Ford is this:

40% Contingency

It would be hard not to come in "on budget" with a slush factor like that, wouldn't it?

Dear Mayor Bos

Obtained a copy of a letter from KCMO Councilman Ed Ford to WL Mayor Jerry Bos, dated September 30. I'll give you excerpts over the next couple of days.

"The Public Works and CIMO Departments of Kansas City, Missouri have hired an engineer to evaluate the situation and see if there is a way of decreasing the road closure time period. We were initially hoping that a new deck could be constructed on top of the existing bridge footings. After close inspection, large holes were found in the structure that compromised their integrity"

(I am going to request a copy of the report to explore further the "large holes".)

Ford outlines three options with costs:
Option 1 - Do Nothing, cost $5,000 for additional signage
Option 2 - Repair the existing Bridge
A. Remove existing deck & replace with metal pan filled with asphalt, $101,675
B. Remove existing deck & replace with metal deck, $86,810
C. Replace with Temporary Bridge, $606,594
He has crossed out A & B in his letter because of the inspection comments
Option 3 - Maintain traffic full-time, $1,600,000

Option 3 is where Ford suggested WL participation @ $500,000.

Looks like Ford is carrying the water on this one, apparently it is politically too sensitive for Johnson...when is Johnson up for reelection, voters in Wildwood?

New Update

You may not check my blog on Weatherby Lake if you are not a resident. I just posted a note from Tuesday's Board of Aldermen meeting regarding the BRB.
http://weatherbylakeasiseeit.blogspot.com/

$800,000

According to WL Mayor Jerry Bos, that is the amount KCMO has in the bank as part of the agreement to turn over the BRB from state control to KCMO. When questioned about incentives being built into the contract for the construction of the new BRB (similar to Minneapolis) Bos has been told there is "no money" KCMO Public Works maintains work will begin on the replacement of the bridge in January and be completed in twelve months. Right.

By the way, plans indicate the elevation of the new bridge will be 13 feet above the current elevation.

Ford/Johnson No Shows for Meeting

Just finished a discussion with Mayor Jerry Bos of Weatherby Lake. KCMO Councilmen Ed Ford and Russ Johnson will not attend the WL Board of Aldermen meeting, tomorrow night, Tuesday the 7th. The exact reasons are unclear, other than it was mutual. Mr Ford was interested in proposing a $1.6 million fix for the BRB, $550,000 to come from WL. Another proposal was/is to use Army type bridging for a temporary fix. Unclear if either proposal or others are on the table. At least not for tomorrow night.

T-Boned

No not the steak, the black car half across the sidewalk and hanging out on the street on one of the unofficial detour routes(NW 86 Terr, just east of Wayland). The car was there early Saturday morning and remained in the late afternoon. HG mentioned it would be a good blog pic...when I went through again around 8:15 PM it was gone. Was there an accident there? Don't know, but one thing for sure it was T-Boned.

Upon further review...

Checked the agenda for the WL Board of Aldermen meeting next Tuesday. The agenda does not include Messrs Ford and Johnson, yet. I will post once confirmed. Not sure if it is WL or the Councilmen who are suddenly dragging their feet. Stay tuned.

More Speed

Traffic enforcement yesterday on Wayland in the AM, must not have read the blog before heading out.

No Need For Speed

Reports of traffic enforcement (read speed trap) on 87th Terrace on Monday. KCMO officer with handheld "shooting" motorists as they approach and then motioning over the offending criminals. The speed limit is 25 MPH. This should be easy for Weatherby Lakeans, 25 is the law enforced in WL. So for those taking the "shortcut", take a deep breath, slow down, enjoy the ride. I'm sure those who live in Wildwood are counting the days (hate to say years) until they can get their quiet neighborhood back.