Why My Experience Matters - Especially for Redefining Rte 9
Safer Streets. Economic Growth. A Better Parkville
The project to redefine Route 9 will improve pedestrian and vehicular safety and mobility. Improvements will include new crosswalks, a traffic signal, more turning lanes, street lighting and other traffic and pedestrian improvements.
Over the next two years, I will be actively involved in shaping this project. I will ensure that the city leverages the latest technologies to achieve our Vision Zero goals associated with pedestrian safety including sensors and project design while retaining downtown’s charm. Through my work with both CTI and B2, I’ll also be able to bring perspectives from other communities to ensure that our work takes advantage of the lessons learned in other cities, thus making our project as cost effective as possible.
Among the projects on which I worked that I will leverage in this effort include:
- The Kansas City Streetcar Project, 2015-2019. I served as the technology integration lead that included Public WiFi, wayfinding software, information kiosks, fiber deployments, digital equity programs.
- Kansas City Smart City Program Solicitation. I led the public-private partnership development for a project estimated to be worth between $1.1 and $1.5 Billion in 2018/2019. The intent of the project was to digitize the city’s assets for a period of 30 years beginning on the east side of the city and then moving to the northland, downtown and southern regions of Kansas City. The partnership aspect involved private ownership of hardware and data access while data analysis results and intellectual properties belonged to the city. While submissions were received from industry, the city chose to not commit to the partnership after the mayoral change between Mayor James and Mayor Lucas.
- GEST. I met the team from the on-demand, door-to-door ride service GEST ( Green Easy Safe Transportation) at one of the Smart City conferences I led in Austin in 2023. I introduced them to several northland communities, and they committed to working with Parkville at a discounted rate. The city team then developed a public-private partnership to fund GEST operations for the first year of the project, which began in November 2025.
- Public Safety technology deployments. From 2016-19, I collaborated with three KCPD technology directorate leaders to deploy advanced software, sensors, digital ticketing, data entry and other tools to make officers more effective while on duty. Recently, Parkville has deployed many of the same or similar tools with funding from our Public Safety Sales Tax and product reviews that I’ve made available to the team through my work at CTI.
- In 2020/2021, I led the Wyandotte County Covid Vaccine Team. We established three sites and vaccinated over 110,000 people over the nine months of active operations I oversaw. Our operations approach became the model on which the region developed vaccine sites, procedures and record keeping.
- San Diego movable bollards use case. In 2023, I worked with the San Diego economic development board at a CTI event that demonstrated the opportunities that come with pedestrian-only sections of a downtown that separate traffic and people. This project, a 4-block space near the gas lamp district, informed my opinion on the Redefine Route 9 project.