KC’s wish list for Obama’s stimulus

After spending part of his holiday in swimming trunks, president-elect Buff Bam arrived in D.C. this week and dug into the difficult task of salvaging the economy. In recent weeks, he’s outlined his vision

for a stimulus package that would put federal dollars into shovel-ready

infrastructure projects. This week his aides hinted that the tab for Obama’s plan

could reach  $775 billion.

States and cities are scrambling for a piece of it, and KCMO leaders have prepared a lengthy wish list. The

five-page list — see it after the jump, in its original, City Hall color-coded format — includes $819 million worth of new construction and

improvements.

Greg Williams, the city’s legislative liaison, cautions

that this is just a preliminary exercise. “It was put together

initially to use as an example to the federal government: ‘If you give

us infrastructure money, we have ready projects on which to spend that

money,'” Williams tells us in an e-mail.

There’s

plenty of important stuff on there: vital sewer projects, environmental

upgrades, relief for irate drivers who have cracked an axle driving the

treacherously uneven 12th Street Viaduct. But we have questions about that

million-dollar lighting project for a downtown parking garage and $15

million for an airport business center. — Carolyn Szczepanski