Northeast News
June 18, 2014

Once again, this feisty news canine is here to beat the infrastructure drum that City Hall so often ignores.

This time, however, we’re going to talk about the lack of ample drainage from city streets that result in intersections and low-lying areas flooding on a regular basis. Belmont Boulevard at Chouteau Trafficway is regularly closed due to high water, as is the underpass at Wilson Road and Bennington Avenue.

Perry and Belmont Avenues are another area where run-off regularly floods residents’ yards and basements. Despite millions of dollars in “improvements” at Gardner Avenue, west of Chouteau Trafficway in the East Bottoms, is a regular addition to the high water list. Yet city hall continues to ignore the day-to-day infrastructure needs of this fair city and tell us how much we need a new Hipster Train along Linwood Boulevard and Independence Avenue, the latter near The Paseo, which is also a shining example of what happens when infrastructure is ignored.

Don’t look for any relief from the Public Improvements Advisory Committee (PIAC) either as some urban City Council people – Reed, for example – have already allocated a good chunk of their PIAC dollars to the streetcar. Tony Botello, by far the region’s most prolific and widely read blogger, had an excellent piece last week on how some of the new council candidates aren’t drinkin’ this Mayor’s Kool-Aid on the single terminal airport plan at KCI and the expansion of the downtown toy-train streetcar.

Note to the Mayor – this newsdog isn’t swallowin’ that bilge either and neither should the citizenry of this fair city. The hijacking of our tax dollars for pet projects will continue unabated until the electorate stands up and says enough. Note to free-spending council-people: elections have consequences.