The Star reports that a 7 year-old boy has been hit and killed by an automobile in Gadrner, KS in far southwest Johnson County.  The location is near a school, but only has sidewalks on side of the street.

The Examiner reports that the suburb of Sugar Creek in north-central Jackson County has just approved the use of speed cameras, in addition to the red light cameras it already has.  The new cameras will issue speeding tickets to the vehicle’s owner.  If someone else was driving at the time of the ticket the owner can sign an affidavit with the name of the guilty driver.

Sugar Creek will use a system of mobile speed cameras that be moved around the city to places like school zones and hot spots where speeding is a problem. As far as we know, Sugar Creek is the first metro city to use speed cameras.  Given the continued disinvestment in traffic enforcement around the region, we doubt Sugar Creek will be the last local city to turn to new technologies to keep their citizens safe from dangerous motorists.

Last night the City Council of suburban Mission, KS adopted a Transportation Utility Fee (TUF), sometimes called a “driveway tax.”  It’s a fee based on the number of automobile trips a property generates, and is a way to tie transportation funding to the actual users of the transportation system.  The city is trying TUF as way to avoid a general sales or property tax increase, which tax everyone regardless of how much they use the transportation system.

Mission’s TUF fee is expected to generate up to $500,000 a year to be used for maintenance of streets, trails, and bike paths. It will also help pay for Mission’s part of enhanced bus service and future Bus Rapid Transit in the Metcalf Avenue/Shawnee Mission Parkway corridor.

Mission seems to be the first Midwestern city to adopt a TUF, and adds to a progressive reputation already established by road diets and other bike/ped-friendly improvements. Hopefully this new funding mechanism will serve as an example for other cities in the KC region.

The list of transportation needs is long.  All of our suburbs struggle to pay for public transit out of general funds because they have no dedicated transit funding.  KCMO itself is struggling to maintain transit funding in the face declining transit sales tax revenue, while also struggling with a huge infrastructure backlog and increasing demands to fund bicycle, pedestrian, and ADA facilities.

The Missouri Bicycle and Pedestrian Federation is hosting a public town hall meeting with Mayor Mark Funkhouser.  Everyone is invited to come hear about the Mayor talk about bicycling and walking.  This is your chance to ask the Mayor about bike lanes, trails, crosswalks, progress on the Bike KC and Trails KC networks, and whatever else is on your mind.

Mayor Funkhouser Bike/Ped Town Hall
Wednesday, August 4th at 6:30 p.m.
Kansas City Public Library Plaza Branch
4801 Main Street, KCMO 64112
Please RSVP with MoBikeFed.
Bike parking is adjacent to the main entrance. The library is adjacent to the Trolley Track and Brush Creek trails.  MAX serves the Plaza and Plaza Library stations.

MainCor and the City have begun working on a new streetscape project to improve the appearance of Main Street through Midtown and make it safer and more inviting for pedestrians.  At the moment they are installing red faux-brick crosswalks at several locations.  Unfortunately, this construction is blocking access for the pedestrians it’s ultimately meant to serve.

The photo above as the intersection of Main Street and Linwood Boulevard.  Construction is blocking both sides of the street, which leaves pedestrians with no alternative route and is something that is supposed to be against City policy.  The situation is especially critical at Linwood and Main because there is MAX bus station right there, plus a big residential population and the Cristo Rey High School.

While there are the regular “Sidewalk Closed” signs, there are now signs directing pedestrians to an alternate route and no temporary walkways through the construction zone. Able-bodied people can probably navigate around the big holes in the ground and dodge traffic, but anyone who is blind or in a wheelchair is just plain screwed.

This is an especially ironic example of how too often pedestrian (and bicycle) access is forgotten during construction projects, even when the construction project is for pedestrian infrastructure.

A recent Business Journal story includes ridership numbers for local bus routes, information that isn’t publicly available from the KCATA itself.  Some routes are approaching the levels of ridership seen on rail systems in other cities.  The #25 Troost route tops the list with 7,800 riders on an average weekday, only 1,000 fewer than Portland’s Streetcar. The #71 Prospect comes in second with 5,200 riders  a day and the MAX is third with almost 4,000.

Considering that Main Street MAX boosted ridership in its corridor over 50%, it’s conceivable that Troost MAX could push ridership over 10,000 when it  opens later this year.



This month there are two opportunities to support elected officials who are supportive of the transportation choices that make our city more livable and competitive.  KCMO Councilmembers Jan Marcason and Cindy Circo are holding fund raisers for their re-election campaigns.

Cindy Circo – Tuesday, June 15th – 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at Parisi Coffee, 710 West 24th Street
Councilmember Circo represents the 5th District At-Large, which means the whole city votes for her office.  She has been a strong supporter of transportation choices on the Council’s Planning and Zoning Committee, where she helped to make sure the new development code required bicycling parking and traffic impact analysis for pedestrians, bicyclists, and transit users. Councilmember Circo has participated in Bike Week events and the KCATA’s Dump the Pump Day. If you can’t attend, you can send a check to “Citizens for Circo”, 4923 Harkness Ave, KCMO 64136.

Jan Marcason – Monday June 28th - 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at the Westport Flea Market, 817 Westport Road
Councilmember Marcason holds the 4th District’s in-district seat and was most recently a strong voice on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, which is the committee that hears many of our issues.  She has participated in several Bike Week events, including three years in a row at the Ride of Silence and bicycling to work at City Hall a few times. If you can’t attend, you can donate online at www.jan4kc.com.

The City is getting ready for an extreme makeover of Chouteau Trafficway, turning it into Chouteau Parkway between Route 210 and I-35.  At this time the plan includes great bike/ped accommodations - both on-street bike lanes and a multi-use trail.  This will be a great bike route since it continues the facilities planned for the Chouteau Bridge over the Missouri River and connects to the east/west bike route planned for Parvin Road.  There is a public meeting this week where you can learn more about the project and express your support for the bike/ped elements.

Chouteau Trafficway public meeting
Thursday, May 13th, 5:30 p.m – 7:00 p.m.
Chouteau Elementary School
3701 North Jackson Ave, KCMO 64117 (map/directions)

Some key points

• Support the bike lanes and multi-use trail
• Support future extension of the bike lanes and trail north to Antioch Road
• There will be a gap in the bike lanes and trail between the Chouteau Bridge and Route 210.  Please express your support finding funds to close this gap between the two projects.

View Larger Map

Fred Kent, President of the Project for Public Spaces, will be the keynote speaker at two local events this week.  PPP is a national leader in encouraging the development of high quality urban public spaces that foster community building and economic development. Both events have an admission fee, but are great opportunities to learn from an expert.

Regional Symposium on Place Making
Thursday, May 6th, 2:30 p.m. – 4:45 p.m.
Liberty Memorial’s J.C. Nichol’s Auditorium
Ochsner Hare and Hare planning and landscape architects present this event in honor of the firms 100th anniversary. (The Liberty Memorial was a project of the original Hare & Hare firm).

Building Community, Creating Places and Sustaining Neighborhoods
Friday, May 7th, 8:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.
Powell Community Center, Mission, KS
This even is part of the Mid-America Regional Council’s Academy for Sustainable Communities, an ongoing lecture series.

This post is cross-posted from KCBike.Info.

On May 16th, Kansas City’s successful Car Free Weekends on Cliff Drive will expand onto the streets of the Old Northeast neighborhoods for a full-fledged Ciclovia called Sunday Parkways along Gladstone Boulevard and the Indian Mound.

Streetfilms video of Sunday Parkways in New York:

Following the lead of Bogotá, Columbia, cities around the world have begun regularly closing streets to automobile traffic and opening them to people. In Bogota they call it Ciclovia, and in other cities they use names like Sunday Parkways, Summer Street, Open Streets, etc.

The streets will be filled with people walking, bicycling, jogging, skating, etc.; and family-friendly activities like yoga, face painting, live music, food vendors, puppets, a dog show, bike skills clinics, and much more. The Parks Department and the City’s Bike/Ped program home to expand Sunday Parkways to include all six Council Districts and run monthly from May to October.

Sunday Parkways on Cliff Drive – details and schedule of activities.

Streetswiki article about Ciclovias.

Streetsfilm video of Ciclovia in Bogotá:

Streetfilms has more ciclovia videos from Chicago, San Francisco, Milwaukee, etc.

Check out St. Louis Open Streets