Kansas City News Blog

So a friend and I are driving into town from up north the other day, and it's one of those days when the city looks particularly run-down. My friend's a little cranky about this because, after all, it's depressing. Going south on I-35 around the bluffs, she looks out toward the West Bottoms and says, "What's going on with the 12th Street bridge, anyway?" The viaduct looks as crumbly and dangerous as always.

For some reason, my friends think I'm supposed to know what's going on around the city. "They've been saying they're going to fix it for decades," I offer.

"Cleaver should have fixed it," she says.

Cleaver's last year as mayor was 1999. He did try to fix it -- and, as it turns out, so did Kay Barnes. So why was it sad -- but not surprising -- to find that the 12th Street Viaduct is now on Kansas City's most-recent wish list for federal economic stimulus money? Shouldn't we have taken care of it a long time ago?

Slow down for those metal plates!

The list of projects continues to evolve, but as of January 23, the 12th Street Viaduct was down on the spreadsheet for $9.3 million to "repair the bridge superstructure, including deck, expansion devices and railings."

I sorta thought we'd been talking about doing that since... yeah, back in the Cleaver days. And because I'm a nerd about stuff like this -- and because my friends sometimes ask me -- I blew a few minutes yesterday searching through the Star's archives for references to 12th Street Viaduct repairs. In addition to learning that it was built in 1915, I ended up driving down memory highway.

"A section of the 12th Street Viaduct, which leads to the Central Industrial District in the West Bottoms, was closed after a crack was found in a concrete bracket supporting the lower level of the bridge. Repair work has begun on that viaduct." - November 9, 1996

"The lower level of the 12th Street Viaduct reopened Wednesday afternoon after workers repaired a cracked column.... Next summer, viaduct lanes will be closed again while workers remove deteriorated pavement and install new joints, Kansas City public works officials said." - December 20, 1996

"The Public Works Department has identified $125 million in bridge-repair needs and is losing ground every year. The department would like to spend $22 million a year over the next 10 years for bridge maintenance and repair.... The supports for the 12th Street Viaduct to the West Bottoms, for example, are "deteriorating very, very fast," [bridge project manager Abe] Shirazi said." -- August 21, 1998

"The 12th Street viaduct that carries traffic to and from the West Bottoms is supported by two hollow towers that are deteriorating rapidly. Rebars added in the 1950s to strengthen the towers are showing in places. 'I wouldn't use the word "dangerous,"' [bridge project manager Abe] Shirazi said, 'but it would be unsafe over and above the load limits.'...The estimated cost for repairing the viaduct is $5 million." - October 25, 1998

"Flood-control projects, road improvements and a new fire station are among the priorities in the latest five-year capital improvements budget recommended by a Kansas City citizens' committee.... $77.5 million will go for dozens of bridges, including the Prospect Bridge over Brush Creek and the 12th Street Viaduct." - December 7, 1999

"Kansas City voters last year extended a one-cent sales tax that will generate as much as $145 million over eight years for bridge repairs. The city's current five-year capital improvements plan calls for $118 million in bridge replacement and maintenance. The city has identified $20 million in federal funds and expects to receive more than that over time.... The city is spending $9 million to $10 million a year from the general fund on bridge maintenance to avoid getting so far behind again.... Among the major projects: Repairing the 12th Street viaduct into the West Bottoms." - September 20, 2000

"Good news: The 12th Street Viaduct needs repairs, but it's not so bad that it needs to be demolished.... Only about 5.8 percent of its surface has deteriorated. If the damage were significantly worse, the bridge would have had to be torn down -- a costly and inconvenient scenario." - June 21, 2001

"The sales tax has brought benefits ranging from new water fountains in Columbus Square Park.... to rehabilitation of the 12th Street Viaduct." -Yael T. Abouhalkah, "Good reasons to renew KC sales tax emerge," October 25, 2007

"Two Watchdog watchers want to know what the deal is with the 12th Street Viaduct. Besides a recent mess of steel construction plates, neither writer is happy with the bridge's rough expansion joints. 'Metal plates have been used to cover the bridge joints for at least 12 to 13 years,' writes Mike Kelso, a downtown worker who lives in Eudora. Robert Gregory of Kansas City echoes the sentiment. 'It is rough as a washboard and is hardly fit to be traveled,' he e-mails....
"The good news: Consider those expansion joint plates gone, says Sean Emory [It's actually Demory, ed.], spokesman for the city's Capital Improvements Management Office. The bad news: [Demory] means by 2009 or so.... Phase three of the construction starts in March, with an estimated completion date of July 2009." -- The Watchdog, November 21, 2007

"Wichita's Gail Williams drove over the 12th Street Viaduct between downtown and the West Bottoms a while back and was spooked, especially after the Minneapolis bridge collapse. 'I was holding my breath the whole way. That bridge appears to be in terrible condition. When was it last inspected and what was its rating?' Don't be too scared, Gail. After all, that viaduct is only a mere 93 years old. Rehabilitation of the viaduct was on the city's to-do list for years and finally was authorized in 2004. The third phase is to begin this March." - The Watchdog, January 22, 2008

We e-mailed Demory to ask about the new stimulus-package request for more repair money.

"The $12 million allocated on the 12th Street viaduct has been spent on the first two phases of the project, which addressed substructure repairs on the bridge," he wrote back. "Some funds will be used on the third phase of the project, which will repair the bridge deck and superstructure and is scheduled to begin in spring and end in summer 2010."

Until then, drive carefully everyone.