Raytown moves to pursue up to $25 million federal RAISE grant to rebuild core corridors

Raytown officials authorized staff to advance an application to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s RAISE grant program seeking up to $25 million for a corridor reconstruction project dubbed “Reconnecting Community.” The presentation, led by city staff and consultants, outlined pavement mill-and-overlay work, curb-and-gutter, installation of modern, fiber-connected traffic signals, 5-foot sidewalks on one side of the road and a 15-foot multi-use trail on the other, and pedestrian-refuge islands at key crossings.

Project presenters said the application is intentionally concentrated in historically disadvantaged census tracts to maximize federal cost-sharing rules. "If you spend 50% or greater in an HDC census tract, the federal cost share is a 100%—that's right, $0 coming out of Raytown's pocket," the project lead said during the presentation. City staff estimated roughly 65% of the proposed spending would occur in the target HDC area (presenters said that equates to a little over $16 million directed to that tract under the current conceptual plan).

Design details described at the meeting include road diets on Blue Ridge Boulevard (reducing four lanes to a three-lane cross-section with a center turn lane), pedestrian refuge islands adjacent to schools, full-depth repairs where required, and limited right-of-way acquisition. Staff said right-of-way needs are expected to be minimal: conceptual plans identified thin front-yard strips on about a dozen properties as the likeliest areas for acquisition or donation; the engineering consultant estimated acquisition costs in the tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars depending on final design.

Board members asked about the wooden bridge on the route and whether it would be rebuilt. Presenters said the bridge is historically old, inspected regularly and structurally sound for its current one-way design, and that a prior funding attempt to replace it had been turned down as the structure's historical character was preserved during past repairs. Staff said any structural work would be scoped as part of design and grant requirements.

City administration asked the elected body to sign joint letters of support to federal representatives; the board agreed and voted to authorize proceeding with the RAISE application. No formal financial commitment beyond authorizing the application was required at this stage. The board’s vote to move forward passed without recorded opposition.

Next steps: city staff and its consultant will refine the application, pursue letters of support from state and federal officials as requested by the board, and continue design work and community outreach ahead of final submission deadlines.