Kansas City, Missouri – Kansas City’s Westside has a new kind of welcome mat: smoother pavement, safer crossings, brighter lights and a plaza that carries a piece of Mexico into the heart of Southwest Boulevard.
City officials are continuing to celebrate what they describe as “safer, more connected spaces” after the Southwest Boulevard Streetscape project reached substantial completion, bringing a wave of transportation, accessibility and public-space upgrades from Broadway Boulevard to 25th Street. The work is part of a broader Westside infrastructure push that includes the streetscape, Las Tarascas Plaza and upgrades to public parking beneath the I-35 bridge.
The project reshaped a busy corridor that has long served residents, small businesses, drivers, walkers and cyclists. Improvements include a safer roadway layout, better traffic flow, new sidewalks, ADA ramps, pedestrian safety upgrades, lighting, landscaping, green infrastructure and a shared-use path. New traffic signals were added at Summit Street and Avenida Cesar E Chavez, while other signals were upgraded at W. Pennway Street and Broadway Boulevard…