These 13 intersections are among the deadliest in the Kansas City area
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Deadliest Intersections
Thirteen locations in Kansas City, Overland Park and Independence rank among the deadliest in the metro for car wrecks
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These 13 intersections are among the deadliest in the Kansas City area
As traffic deaths rise in Kansas City, officials have a plan to reduce them to zero
Interactive map: These are some of the deadliest intersections in the Kansas City area
Kansas City aims to make its streets safer. Here’s where 54 traffic changes are happening
Traffic deaths are on the rise in the Kansas City area, catalyzed by speeding, aggressive driving and impairment with drugs and alcohol, police say.
And some locations are more dangerous than others.
Collisions at 13 intersections were responsible for the deaths of 35 people over the past two years, a Star analysis of selected police data showed.
These locations accounted for roughly 13% of more than 260 fatalities that were recorded in Kansas City, Missouri, Kansas City, Kansas, Independence, Olathe and Overland Park from 2020 and 2021.
Two of the deadliest locations included Bruce R. Watkins Drive and Gregory Boulevard and the Three Trails Crossings, formerly known as the Grandview Triangle. Each location was the scene of five fatalities.
Speed, aggressive driving, impaired drivers and a lack of seat belt use were common themes of the crashes. Five of the people killed were pedestrians and three were motorcyclists.
“A lot of ours are impaired drivers off the roadway,” said Sgt. Jason Petersen with Independence Police Department’s Accident Investigation Unit.
Once they are off the road, they end up crashing into such things as bridge abutments, guardrails or even falling down an embankment and overturning, he said. Officers are seeing more impaired driving earlier in the day and it involves not only alcohol and illegal drugs, but prescription medication as well.
“Aggressive driving and high speeds are pretty frequently a contributing factor,” Petersen said. “I can tell you anecdotally that it’s pretty common that you see people traveling 30 miles an hour over the posted speed limit on surface streets.”
Meanwhile, officials are looking at ways to reduce the number of fatal and serious injury wrecks, with a goal of cutting them to zero. They consider such crashes to be a serious public health crisis.
Kansas City’s Vision Zero plan is using crash data to identify high injury corridors and intersections. The initiative is also considering areas to reduce the speed limit and ways to prevent distracted and impaired driving.
Here’s a look at crashes at 13 of the deadliest locations in the metro:
Bruce R. Watkins Drive & Gregory Boulevard
Since 2020, five people have died in crashes at or near Bruce R. Watkins Drive, which is also known as U.S. 71 highway, and Gregory Boulevard, including two pedestrians who were hit while crossing the road.
A 36-year-old Kansas City man was struck by a car headed north on Bruce R. Watkins Drive on Jan. 19, 2020, as he was attempting to cross the expressway. The pedestrian died at the scene.
On Nov. 1, 2020, a 21-year-old Kansas City woman died in a fiery crash and two others were injured. They were in an SUV that was headed south on Bruce R. Watkins Drive that was traveling at high speeds. The driver lost control and struck a concrete highway sign post. The SUV burst into flames. The three people inside the vehicle were ejected.
A 30-year-old Kansas City man died from injuries sustained in a wreck on April 24, 2020. The Ford Edge he was driving slid off the northbound lanes and crashed into a metal utility pole. A passenger was also injured.
A woman was walking across the northbound lanes of Bruce R. Watkins Drive on Feb. 27, 2021, when she was struck by a hit-and-run driver. The 46-year-old woman died at the scene. The driver fled and has not been caught.
On Sept. 10, 2021, a woman was headed north on the expressway when she failed to turn as the road curved. Her minivan ran off the left side of the road and struck a tree. The 44-year-old woman died shortly after arriving at a hospital.
Three Trails Crossings
Five people were also killed at the Grandview Triangle in south Kansas City.
A motorcyclist was killed on Oct. 17, 2020, when he lost control of his motorcycle on the ramp from westbound I-470 to northbound I-435. The motorcyclist crossed the grassy median and when he came back onto the highway, it struck the right side of an SUV. The motorcycle crashed into a metal guardrail and concrete barrier before throwing it back into the left side of the Toyota.
Two months later, a 25-year-old woman was injured when her car overturned at least once in a collision with another vehicle on Dec. 17, 2020, on eastbound I-435 near Grandview Road. The woman who was driving died a few hours later. A passenger also was injured. The driver of the other vehicle, a 32-year-old man, was arrested for driving impaired.
A 55-year-old motorcyclist from Overland Park was injured on July 20, 2021, when a car changed lanes into him, throwing him from the motorcycle on westbound I-435 near Grandview Road. The motorcyclist died a few days later at a hospital.
On Nov. 1, 2021, a 32-year-old Independence man died when the car he was driving ran off the ramp from eastbound I-435 to northbound I-435. The car flipped end over end multiple times and ejected him.
A couple weeks later, a 63-year-old motorcyclist from Kensett, Iowa, was killed when he took the ramp from southbound I-435 to southbound I-49 too fast and went off the highway on Nov. 17, 2021. His motorcycle was found under the overpass where it had flipped, ejecting him.
Broadway Boulevard & 29th Street
A driver was killed after losing control of a car at high speeds on northbound Broadway on April 15, 2021. As the road curved, the car struck the right curb and rode it around the curve where it struck a culvert, sending it back onto the roadway. The car traveled sideways into the southbound lanes near 29th Street where it was T-boned by another car. The driver of the first car died at the hospital. The other driver was also injured.
On May 22, 2021, a driver of a pickup heading north on Broadway lost control and slid across the grass median into the opposing lane of traffic, where he crashed head-on with a car headed south. A 31-year-old woman, who was a passenger in the car, died at the scene. The driver of the car as well as the driver of the truck and passenger were injured in the crash.
A 22-year-old driver was ejected in a crash on Nov. 1, 2021, after he lost control of his car as he was headed north on Broadway, flipping the car onto its roof. He died at the hospital as a result of his injuries.
I-435 & Front Street
The driver of a box truck was killed on May 22, 2020, when he rear-ended the back of a semitractor trailer that was slowly traveling northbound on I-435 through a construction zone near Front Street.
On July 8, 2020, a 40-year-old pedestrian died after being hit by a semitractor trailer. The semi driver told police he was on the ramp to northbound I-435 from Front Street when he looked over his shoulder to check traffic and merge onto the highway. When he looked back to the front, a woman was in the road and he was unable to stop or change lanes.
A 56-year-old pedestrian died on July 20, 2021, when he was struck by a vehicle traveling north on I-435 just north of Front Street as he was walking shortly after midnight in a construction zone.
And on Tuesday, a city worker was killed and two others were seriously injured when a Kansas City truck overturned in a crash and caught fire at the base of the exit ramp from northbound I-435 to Front Street.
I-435 & U.S. 69 in Overland Park
An Olathe man was killed in a crash on Aug. 13, 2020. The 23-year-old driver made a sudden attempt to change lanes to exit the highway, lost control and struck the crash cushion between the eastbound lanes of I-435 and the exit ramp to U.S. 69. His car spun and struck another vehicle. He was ejected and suffered fatal injuries. The driver of the second vehicle sustained minor injuries
On Nov. 2020, a 59-year-old woman was injured in a crash when the car she was driving struck the crash cushion dividing eastbound lanes of I-435 from the exit ramp to U.S. 69. She died 13 days later from her injuries suffered in the crash.
A 31-year-old Kansas City woman was killed on July 19, 2021, as she was attempting to exit onto eastbound I-435 from northbound U.S. 69. The driver lost control, struck the median barrier and was ejected from the vehicle.
U.S. 169 & Missouri 9
On Feb. 8, 2020, a 22-year-old Kansas City woman died in a fiery crash that occurred as she was headed south on U.S 169 at high speeds and lost control of her SUV after passing another driver. The SUV struck the guardrail on the west side of the highway, which redirected it across the lanes of traffic and became airborne over the side of the concrete barrier on the east side of the highway. The SUV went down about 80 feet where it struck a tree and burst into flames.
A Lee’s Summit man died when he lost control on southbound U.S. 169 on Nov. 13, 2020. The vehicle he was driving left the road near Missouri 9 highway, which is an elevated span in that area, and crashed into a heavily wooded area west of the highway. The 56-year-old died at the scene.
I-435 & I-70
A wrong-way driver traveling southbound in the northbound lanes of I-435 on July 25, 2020, struck another vehicle head on. Two passengers in the vehicle were injured. One died shortly after arriving at the hospital. The wrong-way driver sustained minor injuries. The driver of the other vehicle and another passenger were uninjured.
On April 1, 2021, a 31-year-old Kansas City man was killed when he lost control while traveling at high speeds and went off the right side of the road on northbound I-435 at I-70. His vehicle flipped several times down into a ravine. He was not wearing a seat belt and was ejected.
I-49 & Red Bridge Road
A 41-year-old Kansas City woman was killed when she lost control of the car she was driving on June 24, 2020. The vehicle was traveling at high speeds on the ramp to Red Bridge Road from southbound I-49 when it left the road on the southeast corner of the intersection. It struck a curb, became airborne and struck a rock wall, landing in a culvert below.
A 33-year-old Kansas City man was killed when he crashed his pickup into a bridge pillar on Sept. 18, 2021, near I-49 & Red Bridge Road. A witness told police that the pickup driver approached her from behind on southbound U.S. 71 just north of Bannister Road and swerved around her, striking her car. The driver didn’t stop. The witness called 911 and continue on her way. When she exited onto Red Bridge, she saw the pickup on its top and on fire. She called 911 again and tried to get the driver out, but the fire was too intense. The driver was partially ejected in the crash.
Missouri 291 & 23rd Street in Independence
A 34-year-old Independence man was killed in a crash on Aug. 14, 2021. The man was headed south on Missouri 291 at high speeds when he struck a car that was turning onto 23rd Street. His car crossed over the median into the northbound lanes, where it struck a SUV head-on. The driver was ejected and was struck by a pickup that was headed north. He was pronounced dead at a hospital. A passenger in his car was injured. The driver and passenger in the SUV were also injured in the crash.
Two days later, a pedestrian from Independence was killed near the intersection of Missouri 291 highway and 23rd Street on Aug. 16, 2021. The 42-year-old woman was struck by a car after she ran out into the street into traffic.
U.S. 24/Independence Avenue & Sterling Avenue in Independence
A 67-year-old Kansas City woman was killed in a crash on May 27, 2020, involving one of two cars chasing each other as they fled from a domestic disturbance where shots were fired. The driver of one of the fleeing cars was heading west on U.S. 24 when he crossed through the intersection at Sterling and struck a southbound vehicle not involved in the disturbance. Da’Qon Sipple pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and armed criminal action and was sentenced to 12 years in prison.
A hit-and-run collision on Oct. 12, 2020 killed a 75-year-old man. The man, of Independence, was driving south on Sterling Avenue when his car was struck by a minivan that ran a red light. He was pronounced dead at a hospital. A passenger was also injured in the crash. Witnesses told police the driver of the minivan was traveling at high speeds before going into the intersection. The driver and three passengers fled on foot after the crash.
Three other locations in the metro also had two separate fatality crashes. Two people were killed in 2020 on Interstate 35 and Independence Ave. The other crashes unfolded on Interstate 70. In 2020, two people were killed at I-70 and Blue Ridge Cutoff. Last year, one person died in a crash in July at I-70 and Brooklyn Ave. Another person died two months later at the same location.
This story was originally published March 2, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
