(Kansas City, Mo.) – Businesses in the Swope Park Industrial Area near 75th and Cleveland in Kansas City got a boost from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The Corps released its latest work plan for FY18 and it includes funding for a flood protection system for their area.
The Swope Park Industrial Area has coped with flooding for many years. Most recently, a torrential rainstorm in August 2017 led to high-water evacuations after the Blue River overflowed its banks.
Work on this phase of the project is expected to begin in 2019 and it includes building a flood protection wall and an embankment for a bridge to be constructed in a separate project. When completed the project will provide protection from a 500-year storm.
This project is a partnership with the Corps and they will fund $14 million for this phase. Stormwater GO bonds will pay the remaining $9 million.
“The businesses in the Swope Park Industrial Area are longtime Kansas City partners. They’ve been coping with flooding for many, many years and we look forward to providing them with substantial protection during flooding events,” said Terry Leeds, Director of KC Water. “We are pleased to be working with the Corps on yet another flood protection project for Kansas City. And we’re thankful to the voters of Kansas City who approved GO bonds in April of 2017.”
“I’m happy to see this funding come through. We’ve met with federal leaders in Washington, D.C. to share with them the need for federal funds for projects like this and it’s gratifying to see they listened,” said 3rd District City Councilmember Jermaine Reed, chair of the council’s Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
This project is the third recent large project to be entirely funded by the City and the Corps. In December 2017, local and federal leaders broke ground on the final phase of the Turkey Creek Flood Control Project. In March of this year, work began on the fifth and final phase of the Dodson Industrial Flood Protection Project. This would not have happened without consistent support of MOARC (Missouri and Associated Rivers Coalition) and KCIC (Kansas City Industrial Council).
For more information, please contact Brooke Givens, Media Relations Coordinator, at brooke.givens@kcmo.org or 816.513.0284.
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