On the heels of Tuesday’s post about the hazardous situation on I-435 before and after Chiefs’ games (and to a somewhat lesser extent, Royals’ games), I exchanged emails with a relatively high-profile police department official.
I initiated the contact because of my concern about this situation. The officer — whom I’m not going to identify because he responded to me as a friend and acquaintance — had an interesting and constructive suggestion.
If you’ll recall, I suggested two steps: First, MoDOT should put more electronic traffic-control signs on I-435 and, second, KCPD should have more officers and vehicles, with flashing lights, on the highway before and after games.
The officer said he liked my ideas but noted that finances are very tight for both MoDOT and the police department. With that in mind, he suggested the Chiefs should have a role in improving traffic control outside the stadium.
“Wouldn’t it be neat,” he wrote, “if they entered into an initiative to help supplement some costs of this?”
For me, that was an “ah ha” moment.
The answer is, “Of course!”
What can be more important to the Chiefs than doing all they can to ensure their fans arriving at games safely? If — God forbid — we should have another fatality on I-435 before another game this year, or even next year, attendance could be affected.
At left is the KCPD police van that crashed into a car being driven by 17-year-old Chandan Rajanna on I-435 last Sunday. Rajanna was killed and his father and sister seriously injured. The white SUV at right was one of the vehicles involved in the chain-reaction collision near the Stadium Drive exit.
I wrote back to the officer, broaching the possibility of Police Chief Rick Smith approaching Chiefs’ brass, perhaps owner Clark Hunt, about the prospect of the team helping finance safety improvements.
The officer said he didn’t think that would be appropriate and explained why:
“Typically, when it comes to supplemental employment we wait to be approached by a business rather than solicit that business to contribute. That helps to avoid any perception that we are coercing or bullying any business to hire us for supplemental employment.”
On the other hand, the officer said, it would be appropriate for MoDOT to approach the Chiefs about a cost-sharing strategy.
**
I think that’s a great idea…And I would take it a step further. The one individual who is best suited to bring KCPD, Kansas City Chiefs and Department of Transportation officials to the table in a collaborative effort is Mayor Sly James.
As we all know and have seen, James is strong willed and gets things done. Last year alone, his exhortation helped get voters to approve construction of a new airport and an $800-million, general-obligation bond issue for infrastructure improvements. Surely, he could find a way to bring about critical, potentially life-saving improvements to Interstate 435 on game days.
…I don’t have a relationship with Sly — not even sure he knows who I am. But I just put in the mail a letter urging him to make game-day traffic improvement a top priority. This needs to get done.
JimmyCsays: At the juncture of journalism and daily life in KC 
Kudos for a great column. Who knew your best journalistic work would occur after you retired.
Great idea Jim, but how about taking it farther and bringing back some kind of mass transit option like the buses they used to have.
I like that idea, @jcgottsch; esp. for Chiefs’ fans, who more often than not tend to inebriation.
Not sayin’ Royals’ fans are old fashioned county-dry, but Chiefs’ fans tend to make an art of it. Even before the games…
Agree. I would go to many more Royals games if the Royals Express came back. I used to go to the Illinois side of the St. Louis several times a year on business. You could ride the bus to the Cardinal games for $5 round trip and they were pretty full even during the week.
Jim, a few comments about the Royals express pulled from my memory. Think of my comments as being from a knowledgeable source providing a lead to a reporter, not someone who has done recent research like a good reporter would. Perhaps 20 years ago when Dick Davis was heading the KCATA he worked with the Royals to start the Royals express. It was a big success, so much so that private bus operators complained that publicly funded transit was infringing on their potential business. Consequently either the Federal Transit Administration on its own or through the urging (or new law by a Republican Congress?) ruled that the service had to give private operators a chance. Maybe a private operator tried to provide the service and the fare proved to be too high to attract riders, I don’t remember the details. Consequently today there is no bus service.
There is an inherent conflict with professional sports teams with who pays for extra police, bus service etc. caused by large game-day crowds. Also should publicly funded transit agencies be subsidizing trips to sports venues? There also is evidence that some sports teams (LA Rams) prefer their fans pay $100 to park rather than take public transportation — including light rail– that is readily available at the Coliseum, but will be missing at the new stadium near LAX.
The Red Bird Express referenced in an earlier comment runs from St. Clair County Illinois to Busch Stadium in Downtown St. Louis. There is a long story about that and yes the fare is $5. It does not make money for the St. Clair County Transit District, but is hugely popular with the voters of St. Clair County.
It would be an interesting article to follow up with the Royals, Chiefs, KCATA etc.
Thank you for the information. I actually remember the Royals Express running when I moved here in 1980. I took it a number of times to Royals games. I also heard the reason it was stopped was the explanation you gave.
I would be interested to read a follow up on this. I also wonder why this has to be a money making venture and not one that just breaks even. Having such service would be a good promotion of RideKC service to people who do not normally use it. I wonder how St. Clair County justifies it if it is against Federal rules.
I did find this KC Star article which states the service ended in 2009 for the changes in Federal charter rules.
In Minneapolis one can very easily and affordably ride the light rail to to the Twins’ stadium. I’ve done it and it’s wonderful. I’m sure other cities have similar rational ways to get fans to the games. Why soak them for beer, peanuts AND parking? Feels like we’re being exploited a bit too much.
Hard to understand why KC clings to a suburban car-centered model of stadiums in the middle of nowhere accessible only by private automobile. It may have made sense in the 70’s, but it is tragically obsolete now.
I, as well, go to few if any games now due to the primitive transportation options.
I found a 2009 story that said the ATA discontinued public bus service to Chiefs games after the 2008 season “as a cost-cutting measure.”
Resuming express bus service to the Sports Complex is a good idea but probably isn’t going to happen any time soon. You commenters have done a good job of exploring the subject, though…
Not sure why you are closing off your comments so quickly – the Quinton Lucas story, for example.
The Lawrence Journal World -which broke the story two days prior to yours – is still accepting comments, for example.
Particularly since this is still very much an evolving, fresh news story that well could attract further input from readers who stumble onto your website that might have something substantive to add.
Like the fact that in Kansas and Missouri (and many other states) you do not have to have the car running or keys in it to get a DUI. In fact, you can get one for being in your car drunk in your own driveway.
Which by the way, is something law students are taught and learn without exception.. In other words not only was Lucas trying to spin things by claiming to have had only two or so beers, he was purposely trying to make it sound like he was being responsible. Knowing all the while that he was breaking the law and counting on poor reporting to help exonerate him.
Even though I no longer live in KC, I enjoy your breadth and depth of reporting, your focus on the important role of the press in informing a quality public dialog especially during these challenging times, and your way of attempting to elevate journalistic quality by pointing out deficiencies in writing and editing particularly at The fading Star…
One suggestion for your idea to ask the Chiefs brass to collaborate on traffic solutions for their fans and the public would be to invite some influential fans to join in that request. There are lots of big names to choose from of course, but I’m thinking representatives of the Rajanna family as one such “fan” who could turn some of their grief at the loss of Chandan and the pain of the serious injury of his father and sister into something good in memory of Chandan.
As for the money needed to fund such a project, it’s probably all going to end up coming from the taxpayers anyway, directly or indirectly, but it should definitely include the Chiefs and the Chiefs should feel honored to play a convening role in working to protect their fans and, yes, put some chips on the table.
And here is where I’m going to borrow a page from a high quality journalist that I admire to criticize you for burying an important fact in your story in the caption of the photo of your follow up article! Why didn’t that fact that it was a KCPD police van that was involved in collision that killed Rajanna Chandan come up beforehand and appear prominently in the main or follow up story? What was the police van doing in that game day traffic? Were those officers already serving the KC Chiefs by heading to the game to cart off drunken fans or to provide “supplemental employment” requested by the Chiefs? Perhaps there is an interesting story there to uncover that will encourage the KCPD’s role in this to be examined further.
It probably does not matter who was “at fault” for the accident, but if it were the KCPD police van to any degree, then the immense cost of this accident is going to fall at least partially on the KC taxpayer anyway in the form of likely litigation, settlement, or jury award, and none of that cost goes to prevent the next such accident. Of course, we will never know or be able to quantify the cost of preventing the next accident, but I am pretty sure we could model both the likelihood of it occurring and the cost under the status quo. Savings from reducing the frequency or severity of such an accident could also be modeled from a cost perspective. Then let’s parse out the bill for smart improvements among all those who would pay the eventual cost.
Perhaps the Chandan family, who are currently paying the eventual cost, would be willing to invest their own grief into the sort of action that could make such a solution possible.