KC Light Rail

Light rail planning kicks in high gear on Feb. 27 with the first public meeting for Phase II of the Alternatives Analysis. The meeting details are:

5-8 p.m.
Wed., Feb. 27
Mohart Community Center
3200 Wayne [map]
Kansas City, Missouri

The scoping booklet is here, but we've pulled some of the most important details that will be hammered out in the coming months, mostly having to do with routing specifics:

1. Northern Terminus - The project team will evaluate a northern terminus in the vicinity of Vivion Road or possibly further to the west and/or north.

2. North Kansas City - Several alignment alternatives will be considered in North Kansas City, located north of the Missouri River; including Burlington between a new Missouri River crossing and the north terminus, and Swift between the River and the north terminus.

3. River crossing - The project team will evaluate the potential to add fixed guideway transit to the existing Heart of America Bridge over the Missouri River, or build a new adjacent transit structure.

4. CBD-Crown Center - Between the Central Business District and Crown Center, the project team will evaluate the feasibility of using either Grand Avenue or the Walnut Street/Main Street pair for a north-south alignment.

5. Midtown - Main Street will be evaluated as the north-south alignment under consideration between Crown Center and the Country Club Plaza.

6. Southern terminus - At least three southern termini options will be evaluated:

• 51st Street/Brookside Boulevard
• Cleaver II Boulevard east of Main Street
• 47th Street west of Main Street

7. Eastern leg to vicinity of Prospect Avenue - The project team will evaluate at least two possible east connections between the north-south transit corridor and Prospect Avenue:

• Linwood Boulevard
• Cleaver II Boulevard/Volker Boulevard

8. Eastern Terminus - Although both eastern legs will be evaluated to the vicinity of Prospect Avenue, alternatives will be reviewed for the specific eastern terminus point.

We'd love to hear your comments on any of the above items.

For those who can't make the Feb. 27 meeting, written comments can be sent to the KCATA project manager through March 17.

From the Blue Springs Examiner and Wichita Eagle. The latter is an AP story that was also picked up in St. Louis and Topeka. There are also a few letters on the topic on the Star's Unfettered Letters blog.

UPDATE: Coverage from Dos Mundos, the Bonner Springs Chieftain, Kansas City Kansan, and the Sun Newspapers.

From the Star, KMBC, KSHB, Fox 4, and BlogKC.

A brief from the Kansas City Business Journal touts "mixed reviews" of Mayor Funkhouser's draft regional light rail legislation. Area mayors attended a meeting at Union Station this morning to review the plan, which would require legislative support in Kansas and Missouri. Unfortunately, Johnson County biggies Lenexa, Olathe, Overland Park, and Shawnee didn't attend. Do you live in one of these cities? If so, please click on the city name to send a message to your respective mayor. Please include your own personal message and contact information. Following up with a phone call is even better, as well as a note to your council representative.

Kansas City's first technocrat-turned-mayor may not get everything on his light rail wish list right away, but his regional funding proposal certainly elevates the dialog, especially with overly-sensitive Kansas legislators. A draft of Funk's proposed legislation is here — along with an overview — thanks to Prime Buzz.

So why is this action different than anything preceding it? It's just the kind of proposal that is expected from Kansas City's mayors, and is a magnificent gesture towards healing state line wounds. While Councilman Ed Ford has been handling all of the specifics with the Council, the Mayor pursues the regional purse strings and oversight that's needed to send a multi-line transit request to Washington (see Salt Lake City and Houston for recent examples of such an approach).

The timing is perfect as Johnson County leaders figure out that their top rung in the metro's economy is just as susceptible as Sprint's subscriber base or the price of endlessly sprawling McMansions. We need the metro to coalesce around a big issue like transit.