City Councilmembers Alvin Brooks, 6^th District-at-Large, and Chuck Eddy, 6^th District, along with local community leaders, got an in-depth look at the 87^th Street improvement project.  The tour, organized by the Capital Improvements Management Office, gave participants the opportunity to receive a project status update as well as significant milestones achieved during construction.

Creative solutions were needed onsite when crews attempted to install steel sheet piles for one of the new bridges. During installation, the steel bent due to the extreme hardness of the rock below. The solution involved installing a concrete floor for the bridge instead of the previous design which left this area open to the creek below.

The 87^th Street improvements involve the replacement of the existing two-lane roadway with a four-lane divided roadway from Blue River Road to Denver Avenue. Construction of the new road involves extensive infrastructure improvements, including new curbs, sidewalks, traffic signals, street lighting, storm and sanitary sewers, and conduits to better serve residents and drivers in the area. This project is being partially funded by the Public Improvement Advisory Council combined with a federal matching grant.  Missouri’s Department of Transportation is a partner on this project performing oversight and approval functions. Construction on the project is scheduled to be complete in November 2006.