Let’s start paying attention to county commission elections!
Now that the baton has been unofficially passed to the tri-county regional planning effort, it's time to start checking in on exactly who is going to be pulling the strings for you in Platte, Clay, and Jackson county governments — because, let's face it, you normally don't care because the counties don't fund transit at all today and these electeds are all transit newbies (Yes, Virginia… there is a SmartMoves!).
Today's Star article hints around at who the leaders and nay-sayers are. We'll be watching these developments closely — and praying that these stories get transferred to the transportation beat — but the good news is that there is consensus on developing a plan that will pass (you know, with ridership and stuff).
We are already raising a red flag about Platte County — home of KCI, Zona Rosa, a water tower… and what else? — which is struggling with the fact they are by far the least populated of the three counties (85K?) yet are expecting equal coverage. We kid because we love!
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what i heard platte county presiding commissioner betty knight say was that she will want service proportional to what her county puts it. that’s what every jurisdiction wants.
as i recall she also pointed out that kcmo platte county voters gave the light rail proposal a higher favorable vote than did clay county voters, even though the starter line didn’t touch platte county.
Platte County does have a significant employment base. There is a growing east to west commuting pattern, from Clay to Platte Counties. A lot of the Platte leaders are more concerned about getting Clay residents to the jobs in Platte, than they are about getting Platte residents to jobs Downtown. So the Northland needs much better east/west service in addition to north/south.
Hopefully we will follow the St. Louis and D.C. models - each county levies its own transit tax and pays for its own part of the system, with a small amount sent to a central fund for administration and operations.
So why not have a streetcar line on Barry Road from Boardwalk to Maplewoods College? We have a Hospital,2 grocery stores,K-mart, apartments, 2 drug stores,fast food and resturants , 2 car dealerships, AMC theaters and a short walk to Zona Rosa, and the Park Hill High School.
All for 90-120 Million Dollars.[6-8 miles]
Platte could make their route to go to the new JC Penny shopping area and on to the North working their way to the Airport.
Clay could run the route on to Highway 1 and then go South or on to Liberty in later phases.
Both these routes would need more apartment and condo’s on them to make for better ridership.
Kathy Dusenbery’s election to the Platte County Commission bodes well for regional issues.