Refine the Vision for the US-71

For immediate release: Thursday, September 11, 2025

The next Community Summit for the Reconnecting the East Side project is set to take place from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, September 16, 2025, at Bruce R. Watkins Cultural Heritage Center at 3700 Blue Parkway, Kansas City, MO 64130.

After hearing from community members during the past several months, the Reconnecting the East Side project team has outlined initial alternatives for a re-imagined US-71. All members of the public are invited to the summit to review the initial alternatives and provide feedback. These are not final plans, and community input is central to the success of Reconnecting the East Side.

This is the third of four planned Community Summits. The first was held Saturday, March 22 at Southeast High School in Kansas City. The second one followed on June 24 at the Blue Parkway Sun Fresh. Materials from those summits are posted online. There is also space on the website for additional public comments and an 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 and 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].

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Media with questions may contact Ryan McMonigle, Public Information Officer for Public Works, at [email protected].