NKC: Real frustration or drama?
North Kansas City Mayor Gene Bruns says light rail has "worn" him out. Considering how long the process will take, it seems a bit early to be throwing in the towel. While Bruns does have a point about the number of groups — including this site… guilty as charged! — seeking to influence the planning process, it's certainly no worse than any other billion dollar civic project the metro has undertaken (Bruce Watkins? Brush Creek?).
What's more interesting, however, is the insistence that the revised route will likely use the Heart of America bridge. For those with short-term memory problems, this is the same bridge that the city and ATA leaders said would cost lots of extra dough to re-engineer to support light rail. Did MoDOT swoop in recently and sprinkle their magic bridge dust to make it better? We'd love to hear how the HoA plays into the 10- to 12-mile project cost that is being thrown around these days.
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Why do we keep looking at Light Rail when we know it cost to much. The City is already 5-12 million dollars short and would need about $20 million more for light rail operating expenses.Kite Singleton already said that the streetcars did very well when we had them,so why not now?
one man’s myopia is another man’s vision. and for BRT, check your beloved curitiba… the birthplace of BRT is replacing some of those lines with real metro because BRT simply cannot match rail’s capacity. BRT is a stepping stone, not the end game. most cities only go with BRT because the federal funding mechanism is slanted that way, and many expect that to change with a new administration.