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

Over the last few years the city has been gradually converting Downtown’s mess of one-way streets into two-way streets. One-way streets have been proven to be more hostile and dangerous for pedestrians and bicyclists.  They encourage motorists to drive faster and raised stress levels of motorists trying to navigate complicated street grids.

Kansas City’s two-way conversion compliments the many other investments that have been made to make Downtown more inviting everyone, and safer for pedestrians in particular.

View Larger Map

News from City Hall
City Communications Office
City of Kansas City, Mo.
www.kcmo.org
CONTACT: Mary Charles, city communications officer, (816) 513-1356
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Oct. 21, 2009

Wyandotte Street to become two-way from Sixth to 12th streets

The City of Kansas City, Mo., Public Works Department is alerting motorists that the section of Wyandotte Street between Sixth and 12th streets will be converted into a two-way street on Saturday, Oct. 24. The conversion process is expected to begin shortly after 9 a.m. and be complete by 3 p.m.

The conversion, which includes, signs, traffic signals and pavement markings is being made to improve traffic flow in the City’s central business district.

Media inquiries and other requests for more information about this project should be directed to Dennis Gagnon, public information officer for the Public Works Department, (816) 513-2659.

Let’s Go KC and partner organizations like the Downtown Neighborhood Association have been working for the past few months to stop the recent proliferation of pedestrian push buttons in the Loop. We know that many citizens have complained about this, and Councilmembers like Russ Johnson, Jan Marcason, and Bill Skaggs have made public comments about it.

Most big cities give pedestrians an automatic walk signal in downtown areas as a small but significant way to make cities more inviting for foot traffic.  It’s a key part of making a city more livable through the design of the transportation system. Let’s Go KC will keeping lobbying City Hall to get this new policy extended to other pedestrian-oriented neighborhoods like Westport, the Country Club Plaza, Brookside, etc.

While all projects sound very worthy, their combined $340 million price tag is more than the $300 million expected to be available for the entire state of Missouri. The city and possibly suburban neighbors will have to make some hard choices about which projects or combination of projects is submitted to the Feds.  The US Department of Transportation criteria for selection includes long0-term impact, sustainability, livability, economic competitiveness, and safety.

Downtown Streetcar – proposed by the KCATA. 2.5 mile loop between the River Market and Crown Center. The hope is that up to $100 million in construction costs could be paid for by the feds and the operating costs paid for by an assessment on property along the route. This 2.5 mile segment is deemed the most likely to succeed from the recent light rail study.  The tracks would be built to accommodate light rail vehicles in the future. Streetcar presentation (PowerPoint).

Regional Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) - Proposed by the Mid-America Regional Council.  MAX service on Main Street and Troost Avenue would be expanded to four more Smart Moves corridors in Kansas City and the suburbs – North Oak, 40 Hwy, State Avenue, and Metcalf Avenue/Shawnee-Mission Parkway in Johnson County. Cost is estimated at $50-100 million.  A lack of ongoing operating money is a big weakness, especially for the two Kansas routes. BRT presentation (PDF).

Bicycle/Pedestrian Network – Proposed by the city’s Public Works Department.  The proposal would speed the build out of both on-street bike routes and multi-use trails, sidewalk construction and repair, crosswalks, curb cuts, and many ADA accessibility improvements.  The $45 million plan would have a strong emphasis would be placed on creating transportation corridors for bicycle and pedestrian commuters. Transforming Transportation for a Livable Kansas City (PDF).

Urban Transportation Safety Program - Another Public Works proposal includes $20 million in sidewalk improvements as part of a $97 million package for street resurfacing, traffic signals, etc. It would cover the city’s East Side, between the Missouri River and 103 Street, east of The Paseo. Presentation (PDF).

The T&I Committee’s blog has more information on these and other proposed projects. For even more context, archived video of the July 16th and 23rd committee meetings is online.

Some highlights…

1. Pedestrian Zones: Ensures walkable streetscapes that are safe and inviting for pedestrians.
2. Reduced Parking Requirements: Businesses have to provide less parking -  facilitating redevelopment of older areas, paving less green space in new developments, and encourage more transit usage.
3. Bicycle Parking: new businesses and multi-family housing required to provide bicycle parking for visitors and customers, as well as enhanced bike parking for residents and employees.
4. Traffic Impact: developers must now study the impact on bicyclists, pedestrians, and transit users when their projects generate additional automobile traffic.

Read more about the development code…

The new code will start being phased in over six months and be fulling enforced in one year.  Advocates spent many hours negotiating with city staff and private developers, and many of you testified at public hearings or wrote letters to city officials.  All of that work paid off with a much better end result.

In an effort to document the actual number of cyclists and pedestrians in Kansas City, the City of Kansas City, MO will be conducting a test run of the survey/counts national tool in April. We will participate in the National Survey in September with citywide coverage.

Counts/surveys will be done at three locations on two separate dates/times. We need a total of 12 volunteers; 2 people are needed for each location on each date.

Volunteers will be required to attend a training session. Volunteers will receive their assignments, survey packets and ID at the training.The training will take place, Wednesday, April 22nd, 4:30 – 5:30 PM at the KC Design Center, 1018 Baltimore.

Volunteers are needed for the following dates:
Thursday, April 23rd, 5:00 – 7:00 PM
Saturday, April 25th, 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM

Please email Allison Macon, Bike/Ped Data Collection Assistant if you are interested in volunteering with this project. Her email is: alii16@ku.edu.

Thanks so much for your support of this very important project.

Deb Ridgway, MSW
Bicycle & Pedestrian Coordinator
City of Kansas City, MO

Here some specific items that are either in danger of cuts and/or things that are competing for funds:

• Bus service – The City Manager is proposing a 15% cut from the KCATA budget, just as more people are using and relying on public transit.
• Crosswalks – Paint for crosswalks was cut from the 2008-2009 budget and should be restored to protect pedestrian safety.

Find your Council District.

Budget Hearings:

• Update the Bike KC master plan
• Connect the Trolley Track and Indian Creek Trails
• Extend the Riverfront Heritage Trail along the Missouri River levee
• Build a new Shoal Creek Trail between KCMO and Gladstone

If you are a resident of the City of Kansas City, MO then please take a couple of minutes to send a letter to your representatives.

If you live or work in the KCMO please send a quick letter online.

No matter where you live or work, come to City Hall to attend and/or testify at the hearing – Wednesday 1:30pm to 3:30pm on the 26th Floor, 12th and Oak. Help us pack the room and show how much support there is.

Great bike-friendly cities like Portland, Chicago, and Denver all started with bike parking as one of their first steps, and with your support so can Kansas City.

Volunteering will entail attending a one hour orientation session and spending two hours at an intersection with another volunteer.  We will supply instructions, forms, directions, etc. Counting will take place on Oct. 14 and 21, with orientations the evening before each count.

Sign up now to volunteer