KANSAS CITY, MO -- Nearly a year after a person was was hit crossing four lanes of traffic, a dangerous cross walk in Kansas City's midtown has received some much needed attention.
Flashing signs now let drivers know that they need to stop for a crosswalk near 32nd and Broadway.
Students at Concorde Career Colllege called for action in June of 2008. Concorde and nearby Metropolitan Community College officials told me they wanted to pay for flashing lights but couldn't get the City to accept that deal. "We want to do so but we do so at the pleasure of the city," Concorde President Timothy Cole tall Call for Action in 2008.
Metropolitan Community College owns the buildings Concorde uses. Metropolitan hired a traffic engineer, gave recommendations to the city, and both colleges agreed to pay for the upgrades. We brought that deal to the City. The City Public Works Information Officer told us, "The fear is the pedestrian will have an artificial sense of safety. We don't believe in putting up more than signs and crosswalk markings," Dennis Gagnon said.
The School's traffic engineer found the signs that are up need to be more consistent and visible. "This is a known problem for some time. Money doesn't seem to be an issue here so let's get on this and get this fixed," Cole said.
Call for action got everyone on the same page, and more than a year after our story aired, there are flashing lights making it safer for students to cross busy Broadway.
The schools chipped in more than $15,000 each and the Kansas City Parks Department paid around $9,000 for concrete ramps for the disabled.
