KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Missouri Department of Transportation is getting feedback from residents on possible changes to a portion of Interstate 70, designed to improve safety and reduce congestion.
MoDOT's I-70 corridor study includes an area between the Paseo and U.S. 40.
The agency explained a stretch of this corridor has been patched and repaired over the years and the time has come for it to be replaced.
A meeting was held with people who live near the impacted areas Thursday at the Linwood YMCA to present a study and hear feedback.
Rachel Riley is the president of the East 23rd Street PAC and attended the meeting.
Riley said her main concern is trash along I-70.
"Back when I was coming up, the trash, the debris and the things along the highway, that was not present," Riley said.
Despite the trash, Riley said living near a major highway is convenient.
"If I got off the wrong exit, I could get back on in less than a minute," she said.
In addition to safety improvements, MoDOT said another goal of corridor improvements would be "to re-connect the neighborhoods which were separated by the original construction of the interstate."
Dr. Carmaletta Williams, with the Black Archives of Mid-America, said highway construction has an unfortunate history for many neighborhoods.
"These highways divided communities," Williams said.
Williams said she had personal experience with the impact of a major road project in her community.
"The purpose of putting it through, was that white people who live in the suburbs could have an easier way to get to their jobs downtown," Williams said. "It had nothing to do with those communities, those black and those brown communities, those people who actually lived in those spaces."
MoDOT anticipates a preliminary design by October 2022 and possible construction as early as 2024.
Meanwhile, residents like Riley wants faster action along the current stretch of I-70 in her community.
"While we're talking about the I-70 improvement, lets improve around the bridges, the blight, the trash and the oppression that we in our community see everyday," she said.
