Projects

Westport is one of the oldest neighborhoods in Kansas City, Missouri with development dating back to the 1800s, and most of the area is covered with pavement and buildings today. Mill Street, prior to development, was historically ‘Mill Creek’ that has since been contained within the combined sewer system which is currently over capacity. Roads and buildings obstruct the natural overland drainage path which resulted in significant flooding events that have caused repeated damage and loss to business owners, residents, and visitors of Westport. KC Water has initiated the Westport Stormwater Improvements Project to pursue feasible solutions to flood events.

Example of Westport flooding:

Approach

Numerous stormwater studies have previously been performed to document Westport’s flooding problems, resulting in solutions that were held to a traditional stormwater design standard that was neither affordable nor constructable within this highly developed and utilized area of the city. The Westport Stormwater Improvements Project is a first-of-its-kind, progressive design-build project. The project team approached this effort using available rainfall data for recent events and targeted improvements that would alleviate flooding for observed flooding conditions.

Project Summary

Westport Stormwater Improvements fact sheet

Project Timeline

Current Community Engagement

The team is now in the process of coordinating implementation for these improvements, which will involve additional engagement with stakeholders and the community, including:

• Dr. Jeremiah Cameron Park Advisory Committee: four formal meetings with stakeholders representing various organizations interested in the future of Dr. Jeremiah Cameron Park will be engaged to inform about how this project will change the park and explore opportunities to improve the park following construction.

• Westport Regional Business League: the team will meet with the board of WRBL to provide information about project progress and expectations for businesses.

• Direct outreach to Westport businesses and property owners: the team will meet with directly affected businesses and property owners within the project corridor to learn about concerns and gather important information relevant to upcoming construction like delivery schedules, events, and access needs.

• A Public Celebratory Open House & Implementation Kick-Off: A kick-off event will be hosted at Multistudio (4200 Pennsylvania Avenue, Kansas City, MO 64111) in the fall of 2024.

Engagement will transition over the winter of 2025 as the project ramps up to construction, anticipated in early 2025. More information will be included on the project website as the project advances.

Previous Community Engagement

Extensive community and stakeholder engagement has taken place, and continues this fall, to steer specific pieces of the project and keep stakeholders and the community informed as the project advances.

Previous project engagement during the conceptual study phase included:

• Stakeholder Meetings: Three formal in-person meetings were held at the Multistudio office in Westport (4200 Pennsylvania Avenue), with a virtual option as requested. The stakeholder meetings were targeted primarily at the businesses in Westport

• Public Open House, 12/6/2022

• Business Owner One-on-One’s: discussed topics of potential land acquisition, easements, storage solutions, and solicit personal feedback from businesses who have been impacted by flooding or whose property could be directly impacted by the project development.

• Public Entity Meetings:  KC Water (regular/ongoing); KC Parks 10/26/2022; KC Parks Development Review Committee (DRC), 11/03/2022; Public Works Department, 12/08/2022

• Resident letters: More than 30 letters (renters and homeowners) were mailed or hand-delivered.
• Steptoe Lives: this organization served as the community leaders advocating for commemoration of the important history in Dr. Jeremiah Cameron Park and the former Steptoe neighborhood during the study phase. Their involvement has expanded to other community and historical groups as the project moves into detailed design and construction