BOND BREAKS GROUND FOR I-635/HORIZONS PARKWAY
New Interchange to Boost Economic Growth in Riverside
Contact: Rob Ostrander 202.224.7627 Shana Stribling 202.224.0309
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
KANSAS CITY, MO β U.S. Senator Kit Bond joined officials from the City of Riverside and the Missouri Department of Transportation today to break ground on a $15 million interchange at Interstate 635 and Horizons Parkway, a project that promises to expand economic development in the Riverside area.
βThe Riverside area has battled seemingly insurmountable challenges to economic development, including good flood protection and a lack of accessibility from other areas. We are putting those obstacles behind us. With the new levy and the new interchange we are breaking ground on today, we will complete the infrastructure needed to spur economic development and job creation,β said Bond.
As a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Bond secured $5 million in funding for the interchange in the 2005 Transportation Appropriations bill.
The Interstate 635 and Horizons Parkway interchange will open up a major parcel of undeveloped land close to downtown and located on major transportation corridors. The proposed development is located on the north bank of the Missouri River along I-635 at Highway 69. It is bordered by I-635, Highway 9, a main line of the Burlington North Railroad as well as the Missouri River.
Approximately 900 acres of land once threatened by flooding will be redeveloped in the coming years. In 2005, the L-385 levee was finally completed, 60 years after its authorization.
With the completed levee, projections indicate that development of the newly protected area could result in up to 11,000,000 square feet of industrial, retail and commercial space β potentially the largest Kansas City development project since the Kansas City International Airport.
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