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 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.

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

The recent death of a KCK girl at her bus stop underscores the need for sidewalks in many metro area neighborhoods that were built in the 1950s through the 1970s, when when many local cities didn’t require developers to include sidewalks.  For example, west-central KCK, Waldo and the inner Northland in KCMO, and parts of Raytown, Independence, and northeast Johnson County all lack curbs and sidewalks.

In KCK,  a sales tax proposal on the April 13th ballot would include some funds to help property owners install new sidewalks. Residents in the dead child’s neighborhood are asking for the pragmatic step of starting with sidewalks near schools and bus stops. The Safe Routes to School program provides grants to cities and school districts for things like sidewalks.

In KCMO, Mayor Mark Funkhouser’s Schools First initiative would focus on sidewalks around schools.  Unfortunately it’s getting a cool reception from the City Council, including some Councilmembers who are normally very supportive of pedestrian issues.

Another troubling development in KCMO are efforts by Northland real estate developers to kill the city’s requirement for sidewalks on both sides of the street in new developments.

Fox 4: Bus stop tragedy focuses attention on sales tax.

KCK sales tax proposal.

KCMO Schools First initiative.

Let’s Go KC is asking KCMO citizens to speak up for funding maintenance of trails, bike lanes, bike racks, etc.  The city has finally started investing in these facilities, but has yet to budget for ongoing repair and upkeep.

With the 2010-2011 city budget under review this month, now is the time to let City Councilmembers know that it is important to maintain these new investments.

Send a letter and/or attend a public budget hearing.

Check out this great article from the Washington Post on the problems that seniors are facing as they become too old to drive and find themselves becoming virtual shut-ins in the car-dependent suburbs. The narrowing of transportation options has a direct impact on the livability of their communities.

The generation that gave birth to suburbia and the two-car garage is reaching the age at which driving, for many, no longer seems like such a swell option…. “The concern is that when they no longer can drive, they will find themselves trapped in their homes in suburban neighborhoods where there are no sidewalks, or, if there are sidewalks, there’s no place to walk to”

While specific to the Washington, DC metro area, it certainly applies to Kansas City.  Seniors in KC are in an even tougher situation since our region lacks the suburban public transit network present in DC.  They also have many more walkable suburban town centers with services like groceries, doctors, shops, etc. in close proximity.

KC seniors who want to remain independent without driving are mostly limited to the Downtown/Plaza/Brookside corridor.  While there are a few fledgling possibilities in the suburbs (e.g. Zona Rosa, Downtown Lee’s Summit, or Prairie Village), these areas are islands unto themselves and lack the full range of services for shopping, health care, and entertainment.  Grocery stores and hospitals are usually beyond walking distance of even the best suburban downtown district.

Reforming our land use policies to encourage development of more mixed-use suburban town centers would give suburban seniors better options for “aging in place” in the communities where they have lived for decades.   Linking these suburban town centers with public transit would give seniors mobility around the metro area. People shouldn’t be uprooted from their existing social networks simply because they stop driving.

So far most efforts to dig out from the 2009 Christmas blizzard have focused on clearing streets for cars, trucks, and buses.  Most pedestrians are left to fend for themselves to navigate icy and snow-covered sidewalks.  Many end up walking in the street, often the only clear path available. Snow thrown aside by plows have left tall piles block many bus stops, again forcing people into the street to wait for the bus.

Many business districts like Downtown, the Plaza, and Brookside use private contractors to clear their sidewalks, but in residential areas it’s the property owners who are responsible for clearing their sidewalks.  The City has an ordinance on the books requiring sidewalks to be cleared, but doesn’t really have any personal to enforce it.

A pedestrian walking in West 39th Street at Pennsylvania Avenue.

Plowed snow blocking access to the Plaza MAX station on J.C. Nichols Parkway.

The Pitch has results of last week’s KCPD crosswalk enforcement event.  The vast majority of tickets went to motorists who didn’t yield to pedestrians in crosswalks, however a few pedestrians were ticketed for jaywalking or crossing against a traffic light. Police Chief Jim Corwin also talks about it on his blog.

Out of the blue, the KCMO Police Department has started enforcing crosswalk laws with a week-long sting operation in Downtown and Midtown. Police are ticketing motorists who don’t yield to pedestrians in crosswalks, as well as pedestrians who jaywalk or cross against a traffic light.

It’s great to see the KCPD finally take on this work. Over the last three years the Share the Road Safety Task Force has conducted sting operations in Kansas City and several suburbs, but the KCPD has not participated.  Instead, the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department has assisted with sting operations in Midtown, Brookside, and around UMKC.  Kudos to the KCPD for joining the cause of safety for all roadway users.

KC Star: KC police step up enforcement of crosswalk rules.