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Kansas City News Today Kansas City Front Page is a weekly news publication, with daily updates, spotlighting attractions, events, business and hospitality in Kansas City. |
KANSAS CITY NEWS TODAY - Sunday, September 9, 2007 Blunt Signs Bill to Dramatically Improve 148 Bridges in Kansas City Area KANSAS CITY, MO (SLFP.com), September 9, 2007 - Gov. Matt Blunt has signed legislation paving the way to repair or replace more than 800 Missouri bridges by 2012. In the Kansas City District, 148 bridges are part of the Safe and Sound Bridges Program that Gov. Blunt and transportation officials unveiled last year. The Missouri bridge plan has become a national model for other states. "The Safe and Sound Bridge Program will benefit Missourians in every region of the state by providing safer and better bridges," Gov. Blunt said in an announcement. "Our bridge improvement plan will repair or replace more than 800 Missouri bridges with an innovative and original approach to provide faster results. The plan we are enacting in Missouri has been touted as a national model to improve our transportation infrastructure." Blunt signed the bill at the Highway 92 bridge over First Creek. Built in 1931, this 76-year-old bridge may have been used by Bonnie and Clyde during their Depression-era crime sprees in this part of the country. Almost 6,000 vehicles per day use the bridge between Smithville and Platte City. The bridge will be the fifth bridge replaced along Route 92 in Platte and Clay Counties and is among the many structurally deficient bridges that will be replaced through the Safe and Sound program. "I want to thank Governor Blunt for signing this legislation and for making this project a priority in special session," Sen. Bill Stouffer said. "This Safe and Sound Bridge Project will touch every county in Missouri, but I am particularly pleased that our rural communities will see improvements to their bridges. As we have focused on improving our roads, our bridges have fallen behind and this innovative program will bring positive results for our communities by making our bridges easier to travel and safer for Missourians and visitors to our state." "With this innovative new approach to transportation we will do in five years what would have taken us 20 before," Rep. Neal St. Onge said. "We are getting maximum value for taxpayers and keeping the public safe as well." "I thank Gov. Blunt for his leadership on this issue. Bridge improvements are clearly a critical need for Missouri, so we're eager to get started on this ambitious program as soon as possible," said Missouri Department of Transportation Director Pete Rahn. Job Creation Bill Lures Company, 31 Jobs to Kansas City JEFFESON CITY, (SLFP.com), September 2, 2007 - The job creation bill expands programs that encouraged the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics to move their headquarters and 31 jobs over the state line, building on the more than 85,000 jobs Missourians have created since the governor took office. "The pro-jobs, pro-growth initiatives we have already enacted have allowed Missourians to use their entrepreneurial ingenuity to create nearly 85,000 jobs since I took office," Gov. Blunt said. "This bill provides more opportunities to add to the more than 17,000 jobs with health care benefits and high wages that were connected to the Quality Jobs Initiative. This job creation bill allows Missourians to work hard, encourages people to innovate, and allows them to invest what they earn and create even more jobs and economic opportunities to strengthen our state's position as a global competitor. We are already seeing the positive impacts on our economy in Kansas City and across the state as organizations like the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics take advantage of competitive incentive programs now available in Missouri," Gov. Blunt emphasized. Blunt signed the bill at the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), a company that originally left Missouri in 1993 but recently returned, attracted by competitive incentives available through the governor's leadership. NAIA has been awarded both Enhanced Enterprise Zone and Development Tax Credits. The organization's members include nearly 300 small universities and colleges in the United States and Canada and 650,000 students. NAIA's best-known event in Kansas City is the Division I Men's Basketball National Championship. The organization was the first to include black colleges and students in championships, first to include women in national championships and first to develop system-wide character initiative with substantive programming. "The opportunity for the NAIA to move its headquarters to the heart of downtown Kansas City allows the association to further its stance as a leader in the business and civic communities across the Kansas City metropolitan area," said NAIA President and CEO Jim Carr. "The NAIA appreciates the leadership and support of Gov. Blunt and his work to build business and economic development in this vibrant community."   The Kansas City Front Page is owned and maintained by the Moore Design Group for the sole purpose of disseminating news and information about the Metropolitan Kansas City area. Text or graphics may not be copied, rewritten or distributed in any manner whatsoever without written permission. For more information, contact editor@slfp.com All rights reserved world wide © 2007 Moore Design Group. |
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