Accelerating Momentum: Luminary Park’s Role in Transforming Downtown Kansas City
The I-670/Truman Road Improvement project — the future Roy Blunt Luminary Park — addresses the long-standing issues inadvertently created by this interstate highway. The project will repair and replace aging infrastructure while remediating the unintended consequences of a highway that divides Downtown Kansas City.
For almost 60 years, I-670 and Truman Road have been important connectors that are vital to the movement of freight, goods, services, and people between multiple cities and two states. The Luminary Park project is an investment in vital infrastructure that preserves both I-670 and Truman Road facilities by focusing on maintenance, rehabilitation, key upgrades, and modernizing critical infrastructure. Improvements to the I-670/Truman Road corridor include:
- Construct a deck over I-670 that connects the north and south sections of the central business district
- Create accessible paths crossing the deck
- Replace Walnut Street Bridge with a non-motorized pedestrian crossing on the deck, re-connecting the surrounding communities
- Improve the safety of motorized and non-motorized users on Truman Road with by converting a third lane for the use of non-motorized traffic, adding new signage, improving landscaping, and modernizing drainage systems
- Add technology and non-motorized enhancements on roadways intersecting the project area
BNIM has experienced firsthand the unintended impact of the interstate highway system on the community and economic systems of Kansas City. Businesses and residents have been displaced or chosen to distance themselves from the traffic and noise. The physical condition of the City has deteriorated while the economic usefulness of the interstate footprint and its surroundings have no longer supported private investment or economic vitality once part of our City.
The new deck and park over I-670 is a remedy for part of the problem that essentially surrounds the central business district also known as the Loop. Our firm proposed targeted solutions for each of unique conditions surrounding downtown including the current proposal for I-670 over 25 years ago. Since that time, BNIM has developed critical planning strategies on behalf of Kansas City that have led to billions of dollars of urban core investments that have transformed the landscape and economic success of Kansas City.
The original proposals for transforming the Loop and areas such as I-670 may have been ahead of their time, yet many other cities have successfully transformed similar interstate conditions, resulting in significant economic recovery and investment surrounding the improvements spanning interstate highways. We expect the same or better results in Kansas City.
It is not one thing. It is a series of public and private actions and investments that are revitalizing an important Midwest American city and propelling it forward without losing sight of its history and future. The KC Streetcar expansion recently opened, connecting the riverfront, Downtown, Luminary Park, Union Station, Midtown, and the universities along the Main Street corridor, helping the City continue to attract talent and new companies. BNIM also helped study site options for a new major league baseball stadium a mile south of over I-670 that was considered as the new home for the Royals by the team and its ownership.
Kansas City has momentum, and the future Luminary Park over I-670 is one of the very important investments that will accelerate and keep the momentum alive.