U.S. Representative Emanuel Cleaver Secures Federal Grant for Kansas City's Reconnecting the East Side Project
U.S. Representative Emanuel Cleaver II, currently serving his tenth term representing Missouri’s 5th Congressional District, has secured a $5 million federal grant for the 'Reconnecting the East Side' project in Kansas City. This initiative aims to address the historical harm caused by the construction of Bruce R. Watkins Drive (formerly U.S. Highway 71). The highway, completed in 2001, was initially designed to connect fast-growing suburbs to downtown but effectively isolated a significant portion of the Black community from the Prospect Avenue commercial corridor and other city areas. The project is currently in its first phase, focusing on planning and environmental linkages, which includes extensive community engagement. Options under consideration for the thoroughfare include placing it below current street level, reverting it to a pre-highway street design, or converting it into a parkway with landscaping and narrower travel lanes. The parkway alternative, which integrates overpasses or underpasses a... 
