Reinventing the whole- West Bottoms in three Parts

Kansas River West Bank Focus Area

As the studio considers the consequences of transforming the function of I-70, they are also looking into development of the west edge of the Kansas River to create a holistic West Bottoms [which is currently disconnected due to the natural boundary of the river] before further connecting the district to neighboring districts.

Currently, the Kansas River is virtually inaccessible both physically and visually in our study area. This is where the main priority of our group lies- reconnecting the city to the river, both physically and visually. The goal of our project is to redevelop the current industrial area just west of the river in KCK, including the Strawberry Hill area. This is being done by mitigating the existing road infrastructure, investigating the connection of KCK to the riverfront, and further defining the edge of the city while stimulating circulation to the West Bottoms. In defining the edge, we have removed a portion of I-70 between Central Avenue and Minnesota Avenue and various on and off ramps, including the “suicide curve”, and replaced it with a business avenue that is built on-grade as to not block views to the river. Along this avenue, we proposed mixed use residential, commercial and retail developments that have been carefully planned to frame and preserve views and connection from the city to the river.

There have been particular challenges faced throughout our design process, one of which is accommodating for the United Pacific rail right-of-way which runs through the middle of our two areas of focus. However, we have been able to work around this obstacle by physically bridging the two areas using the existing Central Avenue bridge as a pedestrian promenade as well as creating a completely new pedestrian bridge. This is done in hopes of creating a grand destination area much closer to the riverfront than anywhere else in KCK.