Michael Bushnell
Northeast News

Alley beautification continues to be a hot topic in Historic Northeast and the good news just keeps coming in.

Last month, the Northeast Kansas City Chamber of Commerce and the Independence Avenue Community Improvement District received word that an alley in the Lykins neighborhood, that has been a haven for illegal activity, has been slated for re-paving by the city.

The east-west alley between Van Brunt Boulevard and Brighton Avenue directly behind the BP in the 4800 block of Independence Avenue will be paved before the end of September of 2019.

Northeast Kansas City Chamber and Independence Avenue CID staff received a $17,000 PIAC (Public Improvements Advisory Committee) grant to complete the work.

“Alley clean-ups are a regular part of our Avenue Ambassador’s daily punch list,” said Bobbi Baker-Hughes, president and CEO of the Independence Avenue CID. “We’ve got a little over 15 alleys that run parallel to the Avenue that we regularly care for.”

The alley was the scene of a June 2013 homicide where police found the body of a deceased Native American man. He was in a known transient encampment.

It’s that kind of activity that the ongoing beautification projects such as this one and the Pendleton Heights’ projects hope to deter.

“The more people using our public alleyways for positive activities relates directly to a decrease in crime in those alleys,” said Mike Spady, an urban planner with the Independence Avenue CID.

Paving work on the alley is slated to begin mid-September.