UMKC students navigate treacherous road conditions on their commute to campus, facing potholes expanded by a harsh winter and ongoing construction projects, raising concerns about infrastructure maintenance.
Students have been dodging potholes during their commute to campus.
“People in high school would make jokes about the roads but now living in KC the roads are actually terrible,” said Joshua Cunningham, a junior in music therapy.
When it comes to road safety, this was a tough winter for Kansas City due to the mixture of ice and snow.
Piper Warren, a sophomore biology student, says the roads are “truly terrible,” and their condition deteriorates following the freezing and expansion caused by ice.
The drive to campus is inevitable for many students, as UMKC is predominantly a commuter university.
“If you have a bunch of potholes, people are not going to want to drive 30 minutes and deal with a bunch of obstacles that mess with their car to go to school,” Cunningham said.
For those on the Kansas side, the Kansas Department of Transportation’s (KDOT) is urging residents to fill out the pothole reporting form on their official website. Missouri commuters can report a road concern with the Missouri Department of Transportation here.
This response has not been met with resounding optimism from students.
Warren’s response to KDOT’s pothole form, “I think it’s dumb. People are driving when they notice the potholes.”
There is also a substantial amount of construction on many student’s drive to campus due to the expansion of the streetcar.
“I think Main Street has been the worst – it’s almost taken out my tires a couple of times,” Warren said.
“I don’t know which I prefer, the potholes or the construction,” Cunningham said.
According to students, there is a lot of focus on the streetcar but not a lot of focus on the potholes.
Warren said, “The road conditions are very reflective of the fact it’s an area that is not very cared about in KC.”
