Tagged: Blue River Road Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts

  • Unknown's avatar

    skcablog 2:27 am on August 27, 2025 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: Blue River Road, Michael Shaw, , Ryana Parks-Shaw   

    What’s up with Michael Shaw? 

    Can anyone tell me why our director of public works seems to have a dislike for Hickman Mills? Of course his wife grew up here, as she’s fond of saying anytime she shows up at a community meeting in Hickman Mills. There is apparently, however, no affinity for the area because she hasn’t really done anything to help. In fact, she’s supportive of her husband’s stance that Blue River Road will never be reopened as a road, never mind what her constituents want.

    Many have wondered about his absolute refusal to do his job. First he didn’t lift a finger to maintain the road which is part of his job description; and for several years now has actually said it won’t ever be restored. All we want to know is WHY? Oh, and what would happen if he said that about any other road in KC that isn’t in Hickman Mills?

    The other big question is why is everyone at city hall supporting him in this? The City is spending major bucks to make a show of “listening” to the community about what Blue River Road should look like. IT SHOULD LOOK LIKE THE ROAD IT WAS MEANT TO BE.

    Of course, many who should have received notice of the first “community” meeting didn’t; SpeakEasy was rigged because it didn’t even offer the community’s option. Now a second meeting is scheduled and probably wont’t even be held in the community, meaning fewer people will show up. Also, the ability to ask questions will be severely limited.

    All we want to know is WHY? Why is Michael Shaw being supported in this over those of us who are paying his salary? Why is his wife–the next mayor wannabe–supporting him in his efforts to ignore a whole community? Why is anyone in city hall okay with this kind of behavior; okay with someone not doing the job he’s being paid to do? Why is it okay to spend taxpayer dollars on a sham to get out of doing the job he’s supposed to do?

    Madam Mayor Pro Temps’ term will be up in a couple of years. Should she really then be sitting in the mayor’s seat where she can continue to protect a husband who refuses to do his job?

     
    • Katie's avatar

      Katie 6:40 pm on August 27, 2025 Permalink | Reply

      I have heard that there will be another meeting about Blue River Road, but it doesn’t look like it will be any better than that fiasco at Wonderscope. They are refusing to consider a venue in the area where people most affected by the closure live, and from what I heard, they plan to limit participation of the attendees by requiring written submission of questions in advance.

      So, I think the questions you ask here are very good ones, but I don’t have any answers. If the city had spent as much money trying to convince us they can’t fix the road, on fixing the road, the road would be fixed!

      Like

  • Unknown's avatar

    skcablog 1:30 am on August 18, 2025 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: Blue River Road, SpeakEasy   

    How to get help sending your opinion on Blue River Road. 

    Just show up at Crow’s Coffee on the north side of the Red Bridge Shopping Center this Wednesday (August 20th, 2025) from 10:00 to noon. Then, look for Kristi Ashton, who will assist you to fill out a paper form which she will hand deliver to the City Council on Friday, which is the deadline.

    This is an alternative to navigating the City’s “public engagement platform”, called SpeakEasy, which has been criticized by community members as not easy, not user-friendly, among other things. For example, there is no verification of a participant’s identity, making it vulnerable to hacking.

     
  • Unknown's avatar

    skcablog 3:30 am on August 11, 2025 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: Blue River Road,   

    It’s Simple: Abide By The City Charter 

    The Charter of Kansas City, Missouri requires the Public Works department to maintain City roads, yet the Army Corps of Engineers’ report indicates that the failure of Blue River Road was due to a lack of maintenance. In other words, the City of Kansas City, Missouri owes the community of Hickman Mills a road because of Public Works’ neglect and failure to abide by the City Charter. Laughingly enough, that is all the community has been asking for these last 15 years.

    Now, after insisting upon insisting that it would be far too expensive to repair the road, Public Works and the City are offering to make amends by offering expensive options. The problem is, none of those options includes the one the community has been asking for: a simple road. All offered options would be far more expensive than what those living in the area have been asking for these last 15 years.

    It is appreciated that, 15 years later, Public Works has decided to abide by the City Charter. But despite going to the expense of all their machinations of a website for feedback that many are not comfortable using, and holding a community meeting to tell everyone what good guys they are, south Kansas City’s message has not changed: Just do what you’re required to do and fix the damn road.

     
  • Unknown's avatar

    skcablog 3:00 am on August 8, 2025 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: Blue River Road,   

    Hickman Mills—The Community KC Forgot 

    Kansas City annexed the community of Hickman Mills back in the 60’s for some unknown reason. Most on the City Council now pretend that never happened. Off the top of my head, I can think of 4 four abandoned areas the City claims there is nothing it can do anything about. One of them, a single building, burned to the ground a few years back. The other was a shopping center that was recently in the news because it, too, burned to the ground. That still leaves two areas the Community is concerned about while the City claims its hands are tied.

    Kudos to Councilman Curls, an actual Hickman Mills resident, for trying to do what the City has claimed it can’t (or won’t).

    While these are ongoing issues of much concern, there is one other the City is now attempting in its bungling way to deal with. Wait for it: Blue River Road. There are two sections which make the road undrivable, one in the fifth council district where Councilman Curls is again attempting to do what he can to get it reopened. The other and the longer stretch is on the edge of the sixth district where Councilman Duncan, Mr. Trails Above All Else, and Councilwoman Bough, Ms. Economic Development or Move On, are doing their best to keep the Hickman Mills Community from having what it wants (and needs!) – a simple road as it was 15 years ago.

    They have rigged the system by asking (requiring) everyone who wants to comment (as if the Hickman Mills Community hasn’t been commenting for the last 15 years) on the City’s SpeakEasy (a laughable name for many) site. Along with making comments, visitors can chose which option for the “road” they would prefer. Getting back to that ignoring issue, no where to be found is the option the Community has been asking for – a simple road. This would also be laughable if it weren’t so important to the Community.

    Because the area included in the sixth district doesn’t have a high turnout at elections, I’m sure the councilpersons feel they can ignore the actual wishes of their “constituents”. Of course Bough is opposed because there’s nowhere in the parkway through which the road is laid where economic development could occur. I$ thi$ ignorance of the $ituation? If $0, $hame on her. Meanwhile Duncan can only see trails. There are already many trails in the area, mostly not maintained and littered with trash, but hey, why not add more that won’t be maintained? Maybe he should consider letting the Community have an actual road to drive on and just insist that what is already there be taken care of.

    I’ll have to look up “short-sighted” to see if either or both of their pictures are there.

     
  • Unknown's avatar

    skcablog 12:02 pm on August 4, 2025 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: Blue River Road,   

    Jumping through hoops because Public Works is ineffective 

    I’ve been visiting with some of the folks in Hickman Mills and it seems they’re getting screwed yet again by the City, Public Works to be specific. From what I understand from reading the Army Corps of Engineers report regarding the failure of Blue River Road, Public Works failed to maintain the road properly resulting in the current closure. This was echoed in the Martin City Telegraph article about last spring’s “public engagement event” about Blue River Road:

    The portion of Blue River Road had been built on fill material rather than atop stable rock bed. Unfortunately, drainage was not properly maintained, which is necessary when roadways are built with fill. Consequently, the road collapsed.

    Now, instead of simply putting the road back as it was, as would most likely be done in any other part of the city, Public Works is telling people to go to the City’s SpeakEasy site and choose one of their options for “cleaning up the mess”. I can’t say putting the road back because none of the options include that, possibly due to Councilman Duncan who doesn’t want anything but trails – seemingly anywhere. Maybe he would be happy if we traveled back in a time a couple of centuries, giving him all the trails he could ask for.

    There appear to be several flaws in this scenario:

    1. Being at fault, Public Works should simply do its job and rebuild the road without asking people, who they won’t listen to anyway, what they want to see.
    2. Many people, yes many elderly but not all, don’t find SpeakEasy easy. They are simply not comfortable having to jump through all the hoops they’re asked to jump through simply to leave their thoughts.
    3. Being at fault, Public Works should simply do its job
    4. There is no way to identify where the comments are even coming from, so anybody from anywhere can choose what the Hickman Mills Community ends up with.
    5. Being at fault, Public Works should simply do its job
    6. The site is offering several choices, most having to do with trails (Thank you Councilman Duncan? Might a City department be pandering? Or do the departments call the shots?)
    7. Being at fault, Public Works should simply do its job
    8. The site does not offer as a choice, what the community has been asking for and still wants to see 15 years later. And that is simply the two-lane road that was originally imagined and then constructed under the watch of President Truman, then a County judge.
    9. Being at fault, Public Works should simply do its job

    The former President’s vision was for a quiet pastoral drive through the valley, not a place for joggers or bike riders which seems to be all Councilman Duncan can envision. Truman’s vision also did not include economic development which is Councilwoman Bough’s excuse for not supporting the road.

    It’s a sad day for Hickman Mills when their representatives can only see dirt trails or dollar signs. It’s even sadder because this part of the community is barely even in their city council district.

    It’s also sad to realize that this is simply another example, though glaring, that Public Works can’t simply do its job.

     
  • Unknown's avatar

    skcablog 2:04 pm on July 17, 2025 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: Blue River Road, Citizen Action   

    Citizens Take The Lead On Blue River Road! 

    KC Citizens are generally a passive lot, electing the same swamp-creature types to office and trusting they will do the right thing, but recently some encouraging developments are in evidence in the Southland. For one, a Facebook group with a large following named The Real Kansas City has sprung up and they have some real results they can point to. The Real KC Facebook page has allowed Southlanders to vent their frustration on various issues from crime to homelessness to trash to the City‘s inaction on Blue River Road.

    It is on that last issue that another group has formed in order force the City to do their job, rather than tolerating the endless excuses why Blue River Road hasn‘t been maintained, delays in the process with pointless engineering studies, and gaslighting the public with a dog and pony show last April that left many attendees boiling mad.

    They also have a Facebook group: Save Blue River Road. And they have planned a meeting that looks a lot like what the City should have done in the first place. Although they have an above-board bias in favor of restoring the road to its former scenic glory, the meeting is open to all comers. Questions can be asked (unlike at the City’s “meeting”), and all points of view can be heard. Here is the blurb from their promo material:

    If you are a supporter of saving Blue River Road, we want to chat with you. The City didn’t want to hear from you, but we do! This is your opportunity to get some information, share some information, and have your voice heard. We will have a few presentations (and snacks!) This is a drop-in event, so stop by when time allows.

    This community open house meeting will be held Saturday, July 26th from 11 A.M. to 2 P.M. at the Grace Point Baptist Church, 10415 Chestnut Drive, Kansas City, MO 64137. That’s up the hill from where Blue River Road is closed just south of I-435.

    At the meeting, the organizers will also be available to assist attendees in filling out a comments-registration web page on the City’s website called SpeakEasy. This will allegedly help determine the future of Blue River Road.

     
  • Unknown's avatar

    skcablog 10:41 pm on June 15, 2025 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: Blue River Road, Gentrification, ,   

    Hey Andrea! Hey Jonathan! We’re over here without a road! 

    There was a time when the 6th City Council District was synonymous with south Kansas City. No more. South KC is now split between the 5th and 6th Districts. The Hickman Mills community, which extends west to the Blue River, is mostly in the 5th. Only a small part (mostly west of Grandview Road) in the 6th District. Thus, the 6th is dominated by the Plaza, Brookside, and other neighborhoods west of Troost. That little enclave of small neighborhoods on the east side of the Blue River valley thus gets little attention from the two 6th District representatives: Andrea Bough and Johnathan Duncan. Perhaps that explains why they are still pushing Public Works’ preference to turn Blue River Road into a playground for people who don’t live in the neighborhoods served by the Road.

    The City has made a big show to present a total of 7 options for the road, but none of them are what was actually REQUESTED and PROMISED: to restore the road to what we had known all our lives, the most scenic and convenient road in the entire area. Everyone and anyone is being asked to go to the SpeakEasy website and let the City know what they want (limited to pre-determined and unwanted options), even if they don’t actually live in KC, let alone the Hickman Mills area. Has the City ever allowed such widespread input on a local project? Clearly they are attempting to drown out our voices.

    All the options include sidewalks and trails, but why? There is an abundance trails along the river already, some of which aren’t adequately maintained, so why add more? Why add sidewalks when there are trails? Why move the road? Yes, that is actually the last option listed and it comes with a $42M price tag:

    Option 5- Move the Roadway to East $42M:
    Realign new Roadway through Hill

    What does that mean, though? Does it include sidewalks? Does it include trails? How wide are the lanes? What does the $42M include? It’s like Public Works got tired of the project and so just didn’t complete it. This is the treatment we always get in Hickman Mills.


    All the Community (the actual people who would use the road almost everyday) asked was for the road to simply be restored, as had been done regularly almost since it was built 95 years ago. When selling the GO Bonds about eight years ago, we were promised just that. Nothing more is wanted than for the City to keep its promise.

    Instead, Public Works spent time and manpower ($) on coming up with solutions and cost estimates that didn’t even include the ask or the promise. The entire process so far has been a waste of time and resources and the Community is still no closer to having that 8-year-old promise fulfilled.

    All Ms. Bough and Mr. Duncan needed to do – from day one – was to listen to their constituents. Instead they seem to be tied up in gentrification and taking orders from the bureaucrats at City Hall. They don’t care what is wanted or actually needed in Hickman Mills.

    Yes, they finally held a meeting about this issue, BUT they drastically underestimated the turnout so there was standing room only and when questions were asked, the meeting was cut short. The City obviously didn’t want to deal with them or weren’t prepared to answer. There were no sign in sheets so there’s no way to follow up or to allow the community to communicate. In short, they tried to seem like they care when, in fact, that couldn’t be further from the truth.

    Caring means actually listening and then acting; not on what the powers that be would like to see happen, but on what your constituents would like – and need. Neither of those has occurred. Instead we got a dog and pony show which is only continuing with the SpeakEasy effort. While they can pat themselves on the back and then ignore the situation, they have sorely misread the Community’s dissatisfaction not only with the process but with the council persons’ ignorance of the situation and basic lack of empathy.

    In another age, both would have been run out of town on a rail.

     
  • Unknown's avatar

    skcablog 3:51 pm on May 19, 2025 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: Blue River Road, Councilwoman Parks-Shaw,   

    What Doesn’t Councilwoman Parks-Shaw Understand About A Promise? 

    I was going through old emails, trying to clean house a bit and came across one from Councilwoman Parks-Shaw. It was an invitation to a public meeting to “discuss” the future of Blue River Road. It’s difficult to know what goes on in the minds of those at city hall, but the only future for Blue River Road should be the one that was promised to the community of Hickman Mills 8 years ago: a repair of the road so it is once again usable for vehicular traffic only.

    Nobody asked for trails. Nobody asked for sidewalks. The only ask was for a simple two-lane road like the one Public Works ignored until it fell in 15 years ago and who now says won’t happen. There is nothing to discuss; simply keep the promise that was made.

    The invitation also said, “Your input will help shape what comes next. Who’s input? To whom were the invitations mailed? What is meant by “what comes next”? What comes next should be the simple road that, again, was promised to the community. It was not just promised to happen sometime in the future; it was promised to be in the first budget of the current GO bond. What more input could possibly be needed? The only next should be a simple two-lane road like the original as was promised.

    The last line on Councilwoman Parks-Shaw invitation was: This is your opportunity to be part of the conversation. As it turns out, that conversation includes comments from surrounding areas asking for trails, and asking for the road to be forgotten. There were other voices that aren’t being heard. Those voices either live on the standing portion of Blue River Road or live very close to it, but we don’t know if their voices are even being heard because they never received an invitation to “be a part of the conversation”.

    Is this how Councilwoman Parks-Shaw represents her constituents? By getting feedback from elsewhere and then forcing the will of those outside voices onto those living in her district as opposed to actually listening to those she is supposed to be representing and fulfilling the promise that was made?

    Many wonder if she really cares either way. Many also know that her husband, the Public Works Director, has said the road will never happen. No reason given.

     
  • Unknown's avatar

    skcablog 5:08 pm on May 14, 2025 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: Blue River Road, ,   

    We Just Asked For The Road We Were Promised 

    The Hickman Mills Community simply asked for Blue River Road to be repaired so that it would be usable. Instead, 15 years after it was closed, the City has spent an uncalled for amount of man hours and tax dollars coming up with multiple budget-busting alternatives, none of which are the simple repair that the community has asked for. Some of the alternatives don’t even re-open the road, but would leave it to bicyclists, who already have miles and miles of paved and unpaved trails in the Blue River Valley. Apparently, the City is ignoring the fact that there is a nearly 3-mile wide gap with no north-south through street in the middle of south KC. And of the few remaining north-south streets on the east side, the City opted to give one of them, Hillcrest Road, to the Cerner Corporation.

    Now, the City is collecting responses online, but not just from the Hickman Mills Community. People from other areas, like Lee’s Summit, are weighing in on what they think the Hickman Mills Community should have.

    Where else in Kansas City would the Powers That Be take feedback from another city on whether a road should be repaired or turned into a trail?

    Where else in Kansas City would the Powers That Be promise to repair a road in the first budget cycle of the 800-million dollar GO bonds and then dither around for 8 years making excuses as to why they can’t do it?

    Where else in Kansas City would the Powers That Be give away a road (Hillcrest) without first informing the community of their intent?

    Where else in Kansas City would the Powers That Be suggest that the road the Community wants to be able to use should be a trail for “all to enjoy”?

    Where else in Kansas City would the Powers That Be hold a “meeting” to once again give excuses as to why a road can’t be repaired and then “forget” sign-in sheets, thus preventing follow-up by both the City and the Community?

    Where else in Kansas City would the Powers That Be hold a “meeting” and suggest that questions be asked individually after the “meeting”, meaning the full assembly of 200-300 people were not able to hear all the responses? (Without sign-in sheets, actual attendance numbers are a guesstimate.)

    Where else in Kansas City would the Powers That Be, who say the road is too expensive to fix, come up with alternatives for a closed road they promised to fix like:

    • Keep it closed
    • Make it a trail
    • Re-engineer it with streetlights, a sidewalk, bike lanes, and a trail

    The Hickman Mills Community thinks the answer is simple and shouldn’t entail any more wasting of time and money: Keep your promise and simply fix and maintain the road (as used to be done on a regular basis) so it’s usable as a road once again.

     
  • Unknown's avatar

    skcablog 11:45 am on August 2, 2024 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: Blue River Road, , , roads and streets   

    Grudging Kudos 

    Finally, after years of utter neglect, part of what remains open of Blue River Road – from Red Bridge Road to Blue Ridge Blvd. – has actually been paved–That is PAVED, not just a bit of asphalt thrown in the potholes and barely tamped down. “Mill and overlay” I believe is the actual term. It is once again a beautiful and relaxing drive. The new pavement along with the fresh striping makes it a restful scenic experience to drive on.

    This short section is now what the entire road should be for the many who live in south KC, and once used this road as a major means of transportation. Those who have not had the pleasure of using this byway, simply do not understand the pure beauty and the feeling of actually being in the middle of nature while being enroute to work/home or simply running errands.

    Vision Zero should take head. Of course no city street can rival the calming effect of driving on Blue River Road, but the simple curving nature of the road is a calming aspect that cannot be equaled by the straight roads with ever-increasing numbers of lanes in this part of KC. Blue River Road is what George Kessler and William Rockhill Nelson envisioned with the City Beautiful Movement.

    It’s time we get back to that way of thinking. Big is not always better and certainly not as beautiful. Maybe it’s time KC, i.e. Public Works, rethinks road design and “gets back to the future”. It might go a long way towards calming things down, resulting in fewer car accidents, and might make life a bit more enjoyable.

    Now it’s time to reopen the closed sections of Blue River Road. Let’s restore her to her former glory. I wholeheartedly urge Director Shaw, Councilwomen Parks-Shaw and Bough, and Councilmen Duncan and Curls to take a drive down this scenic road so they will fully understand how wonderful it is. Words can never do it justice.

     
    • kristi's avatar

      kristi 8:59 am on August 22, 2024 Permalink | Reply

      I live in a subdivision ON Blue River Road, just north of Red Bridge Road. I can’t tell you how many councilmen I’ve gone thru trying to get some resolution. I’m trying to rally my neighborhood to speak up. I have a FB page called “Fix Blue River Road” and I invite everyone to follow it. After nearly 15 years, 6th District Council wants to turn it into a walking/biking path. There is a walking/biking path that runs parallel on the other side of the Blue River. That’s the best they could come up with after 15 years!! They will tell you that the money it will cost makes it impossible to open as a road. They will coerce you into believing that. The place is a complete dumping ground, there have been at least 2 bodies recovered there since the closure. I vote at Grace Point Baptist Church and every single time I go there, it just pisses me off!! Councilman Duncan has promised community engagement. We have to speak up!! There is power in numbers!

      Like

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