Kara Wurtz for Kirkwood City Council

Deciding not to run for re-election was hard, I have loved being on council and working for the people of Kirkwood.nnBut what made it easier was knowing there are leaders in our community willing to make hard decisions, to dedicate their time listening to residents and studying solutions, and to work towards a stronger community.nnThat’s why I’m endorsing Mark Zimmer, Wallace Ward and Paul Ward in this election. We might not always agree, but each of these men look at the bigger picture and make decisions based on what is best for Kirkwood’s now and Kirkwood’s future. They are innovative, inclusive, and not afraid to ask hard questions. nnSo April 5, I hope you go out and vote for these three gentlemen with me. And if you need more concrete examples of why these three have my support, shoot me a message!

If Prop 1 passes on Tuesday, the city will be able to fix and reconstruct more streets and sidewalks than our current schedule and maintain them in a timely manner so they never get this bad again.nnThis maps shows which of our streets would be done within the next 2 years. If Prop 1 doesn’t pass, these streets will still be scheduled for improvements, but within 8 years instead of 2.

One thing that drew me to Vision Zero was the focus on data and analysis of crashes to help build solutions. nnWe now have our city's crash analysis posted if you're interested in the 10 year data on crashes, fatalities, and where our most dangerous areas are:nnhttps://www.kirkwoodvisionzero.com/uploads/2/0/1/3/20131535/kirkwoodvz_hin_memo_210908.pdf

Join us on the 28th for a Public Meeting to discuss and gather ideas for Vision Zero and improving safety on our streets!

Geyer project starts this week!nnI’ve heard a lot of complaints about the time it took to get this project started. This project, like so many of our large street projects, are mostly funded by federal grants.nnThis means Kirkwood residents pay only $.20 for every $1 of cost. For this project, the city is only obligated for 200k of a 1.4M project!nnWhich is great from a fiscal standpoint, but it means things go much slower as we are constrained by federal timelines and obligations. If we want to take timelines into our own hands, we’ll have to look at increasing our city’s funding to street projects.

Raised intersection and bump outs coming in 6-8 weeks! nnWhile it might be short term pain during the construction, the long term safety and aesthetics improvements are going to be amazing for both neighbors and any student who walks or bikes to Keysor or Kirkwood High using that intersection.

Not only will this make parking easier for visitors and residents, I think it will give the city valuable data on our parking and where redundancy occurs, ultimately helping us improve everyone’s experience downtown!nDownload the app now!

Over the next few months, the Council subcommittee on streets is going to be looking for a lot of input on how residents use our streets and what improvements are most needed.nnThrough the Complete Streets Consortium, in July we’ll be looking for a local example in Kirkwood to use in a case study on how to turn an unsafe local road into one all users can safely walk and bike on.nnThrough the the year, with Vision Zero, we’ll be looking for direct collaboration with residents and business owners on how to slow cars, improve walkability, and make neighborhood streets safer for everyone.nnIf you see issues in your own neighborhood you think would make a great example of currently unsafe conditions, send me a message or an email at [email protected] nnWe need as much community input as possible to make this successful and make Kirkwood a more equitable, safer, and walkable community!