Let's Build a Better US-71

This is the last of four planned Community Summits. The first was held Saturday, March 22, 2025, at Southeast High School in Kansas City. The second one followed on June 24, 2025, at the Blue Parkway Sun Fresh. The third summit was held on September 16, 2025, at the Bruce R. Watkins Cultural Heritage Center. Materials from those summits are posted online. There is also space on the website for additional public comments and an interactive engagement map for anyone to share their concerns and feedback about land use, green space, housing, economic development, public health, education, safety, traffic, transit, and other issues. Reconnecting the East Side is a transformative effort by Kansas City in partnership with the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) and the Mid-America Regional Council (MARC). The project seeks to address the divide created by the construction of US-71, which separated neighborhoods on the east and west sides of the corridor.

The project boundaries include the US-71 corridor from Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard on the north to 85th Street on the south, and Paseo Boulevard on the west and Swope Parkway on the east (see map of the study areas).

Project Funding & Support

The first two phases of the Reconnecting the East Side project are funded by a $5 million federal Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) grant, with an additional $2.5 million from Kansas City and MoDOT.

Stay Connected

For updates, event details, ways to get involved, and commenting options visit https://www.reconnecteastside.com or email [email protected]. Subscribe to receive updates about the project and upcoming engagement events.