The new $1.5 billion new terminal at Kansas City International Airport is scheduled to open on March 3, 2023. If my math is correct, that’s less than 11 months away.
It’s the single largest infrastructure project in Kansas City’s history, not surprisingly.
Crews from Edgemoor Infrastructure & Real Estate LLC are continuing the interior buildout. The work by the Maryland-based firm has proceeded to the point the view is of something identifiable now as an airport terminal. Not long ago what we saw was a concrete skeleton.
There will be 39 total gates in the New KCI. Officials say as of now 6-8 gates have had the bulk of finishing touches completed. More gates will be completed during the spring and summer months, clearing the way for concession area work to begin as well.
Edgemoor officials recently said virtually all of the baggage handling system’s conveyor belts are in place. The conveyor belts from end-to-end will exceed 2.5 miles, we’re told. Around 75% of its mechanical pieces and about 60 percent of its electrical components have been installed, Edgemoor officials say.
Moving walkways are found in a 630-ft. long concourse connector. All four of the moving walkways have been fully installed and have been already been tested.
About 75% of the developer’s $1.363 billion project budget has been spent to date.
Just an observation: If law enforcement one day gets serious about government corruption Platte County could have a real problem with jail overcrowding.
I’ve made my love for fried chicken a very public record so I have mixed emotions on this one.
As you’ll see on our front page, Go Car Wash is going in on the vacant lot behind Wendy’s on Running Horse Road in Platte City.
Not that I have anything against another car wash coming to town. All new businesses are welcome and I wish them nothing but the best.
But darn. To think back in 2008 we were very close to a KFC going in at that location. For real. Just how close we were is revealed in some city documents I reviewed this week.
The folks with the finger-lickin’ chicken were really getting serious about putting one of their standalone restaurants in that location. As you may recall, there has never been a standalone KFC in Platte City, although there was a KFC tucked inside the Minit Mart convenience store at one time. Trust me, I remember, I patronized it. These days I rarely leave the office for lunch but I did back in those days, most often to cause damage to the KFC buffet. I tore it up. I killed many chickens inside that Minit Mart. Figuratively speaking. The chickens were already dead and fried. I don’t want the animal rights people to come after me.
But does that KFC really count? It had some management problems and it was tucked inside a convenience store, after all, and as such wasn’t really all that visible to travelers pulling off the interstate. I suspect that’s part of the reason it had a short lifespan.
Now back to those city documents talking about the new car wash, for which a site plan has been approved. In a section discussing the long-vacant lot–which is formally known as Lot 6J in Platte Valley Plaza, 12th plat–is this nugget:
“A proposed chain restaurant was presented to the planning board in 2008 that never materialized and was the last known submittal for the lot.”
This prompted some efforts by your favorite journalist to verify the name of that “proposed chain restaurant.”
“It may make you weep, but it was KFC,” says DJ Gehrt, city administrator.
Gehrt wasn’t kidding. About the KFC. Nor was he kidding about making a grown man cry. I’m shedding some Nan-sized tears right now.
So KFC got as far as presenting a formal proposal to the city planning board and then they just stopped? WTH, KFC? Did you not know how much fried chicken the local newspaperman would buy? Didn’t do your research, apparently.
Oh, what might have been. Kinda sorry I asked, honestly.
Most of my trips through St. Joseph involve a stop at KFC, as it seems that’s the path of least resistance for me to get my fix.
Get ready for some road construction, just in case your travels aren’t frustrated enough by outlandish gas prices, which by the way jumped 17 cents locally overnight Monday. Not sure how that magically happens but it does. I’m sure you’ve noticed the prices never drop by 17 cents at a time, right?
Anyway, MoDOT says we can look forward to three months worth of various lane closures on the heavily-traveled Hwy. 152 in Platte County starting later this month and continuing into July.
And speaking of road construction, on Monday MoDOT sent notice it would be closing the I-29 ramps to/from I-435 just south of Platte City that night for some improvement work. So we slapped the notice on our website and many motorists seemed to appreciate the heads up. But the road work never happened overnight Monday. So Tuesday, MoDOT sent another notice, vaguely saying crews didn’t get the work done (there were no visible signs of it even being started) and that the work would be done overnight Tuesday. It’s now Wednesday morning and there are no visible signs any work has yet taken place.
Wondering if we’ll be getting another notice from MoDOT today pushing back the alleged improvement work. Guess you should keep checking our website at plattecountylandmark.com if you often travel from I-29 to I-435, and vice versa.
(Ivan Foley can be found drooling over fried chicken or by email to ivan@plattecountylandmark.com)
‘Workin’ at the Car Wash’
Ivan Foley is owner/publisher of the Platte County Landmark, where he has been on the news beat for 39 years. He provides weekly observations and editorial commentary in his Between the Lines column and serves as host of Landmark Live, a light-hearted videocast featuring newsmakers in the Northland. He has penned multiple award-winning pieces during his time with The Landmark and in 2016 won the Tom and Pat Gish Award, a national honor given by the School of Journalism and Media at the University of Kentucky for displaying courage, tenacity and integrity in journalism. Foley resides in Platte County not far from Kansas City International Airport.
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Copyright © 2019-2020 The Platte County Landmark Newspaper - All Rights Reserved