Is your child able to walk or bicycle to school, or do they spend hours on  a school bus or in the back of your minivan?  In 1969, approximately 50% of children walked or bicycled to school, and 87% of children living within one mile of school did. Today, fewer than 15% of schoolchildren walk or bicycle to school.

Safe Routes To School is a national program that aims to get more kids walking or cycling to school by addressing the safety and infrastructure barriers that exist today. October is International Walk to School Month, and October 7th is Walk to School Day. Here are some local resources that you can bring to your own child’s school.

The KCMO School District is starting walking school buses at two elementary schools – Phyllis Wheatley school in the Washington-Wheatley neighborhood and Whittier school in the Lykins neighborhood.

Schedule of  October Walk to School events in Missouri schools and Kansas schools.

Walking School Bus Programs
Organized groups of kids walking to school with adult supervision.

• KC Healthy Kids coordinates Missouri Schools
• Bridging the Gap coordinates Kansas Schools

One Mile Solution Lesson Plan
Explore options for walking to destinations in your own neighborhood. Provided by the Missouri Bicycle & Pedestrian Federation.

Safe Kids Metro KC
Local profit provides additional resources for child pedestrian and bicycle safety. Johnson County  has it’s own Safe Kids group.

State-wide Safe Routes to Schools programs include grants for sidewalks, crossings, education programs, etc.

• Missouri (MoDOT).
• Kansas (KDOT).

Tonight the Plaza Branch of the KCMO Public Library hosts a lecture and book signing with Tom Vanderbilt, author of Traffic: Why We Drive The Way We Do. It’s a very interesting analysis of the psychological, physical, and technical factors of traffic.  The book includes bicycling and walking, so this event will be of interest to alternative transportation fans as well. Rainy Day Books will be selling Traffic at the event, and the author will sign copies purchased there this evening.

Tom Vanderbilt
Monday, September 14th, 6:30 p.m.
Plaza Branch Library
4801 Main Street, KCMO 64112 (map)
More info and RSVP.

The metro area has developed a regional application for the latest round of economic stimulus funding for transportation projects.  The Mid-America Regional Council, KC Area Transportation Authority, and City of Kansas City, MO have joined together to create a $93 million multi-modal plan including streets, transit, freight rail, bicycling, walking, and ADA. The application will go the federal government where it will compete for part of a national pot of $1.5 billion.

This particular grant program places a special emphasis on transportation investments that enhance the sustainability, livability, and safety of communities. KCMO Resolution 090716 details the specific allocations proposed for each project.

Green Impact Zone: $26.1 Million
Street resurfacing, sidewalks, traffic signals, pervious pavement, transit facilities, and Troost Bridge over Brush Creek. More about the Green Impact Zone.

Regional Transit: $27.5 Million
Design and engineering of a Downtown streetcar car system.  Infrastructure improvements on future Bus Rapid Transit routes include North Oak, Metcalf, State Avenue, and Easter Jackson County.

Bicycle and Pedestrian: $12.1 Million
Multi-use trails, on-street bicycle routes (including bike lanes), bicycle parking, sidewalks, crosswalks, ADA accommodations, and comprehensive education and encouragement programs.

Rail and Front Street: $21.8 Million
Freight railroad infrastructure.  Reloction/expansion of Front Street west of Paseo Bridge.

We should know by the end of January if our application is funded. See KCMO Resolution 090716 for more details.

A new national study shows that houses in walkable neighborhoods tend to be worth more than similar homes in less walkable neighborhoods.  The walkability of a home’s location can boost values by anywhere from $4,000 to $34,000. Of all cities studied, Charlotte is the closest to Kansas City in terms of population and median home values.  In that city, the walkability of a neighborhood increased home values by as much as 12 percent.

This data reinforces the argument that in times of fluctuating transportation costs and economic challenges, the market responds by valuing housing where residents have multiple transportation options.

CEOs for Cities: New Study Shows More Walkable Homes Are Worth More.

Download the full report (PDF).

Today brings great news from City Hall. The Public Works Department has decided to switch all traffic signals in the Downtown Loop to an automatic pedestrian phase.  This means no more pushing a button to get a walk signal. It will take about three weeks for all signals to be fixed.

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.

The City Council’s Transportation and Infrastructure Committee is currently considering applications for the next round transportation funding from the economic stimulus program, which goes by the acronym TIGER.

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.

MoDOT is using some of  its funding from the federal economic stimulus to add sidewalks to Antioch Road in Kansas City and to improve existing sidewalks along 169 Hwy in Smithville.  Next week there are two public meetings where you can learn more about their plans for these two projects.

Informational Public Meeting for Route 1 (Antioch Road) Sidewalk Improvements between 72nd Street and Vivion Road
Thursday, July 23 from 4-5:30 p.m.
Northland Neighborhoods, Inc.
3015 NE Vivion Road, Kansas City, MO

MoDOT will host an open house style public meeting regarding improvements to the sidewalks along Route 1 (Antioch Road) between 72nd Street and Vivion Road in the city of Gladstone and KCMO through an American Recovery and Reinvestment Act project. Plans include new sidewalks and pedestrian accommodations to help increase mobility and provide better access.  Stop by between the hours of 4 and 5:30 p.m. to learn more about this project and how it will affect those in the area

Informational Public Meeting for Route 169 Sidewalk Improvements between Route KK and Route 92 in Smithville
Thursday, July 23 from 4-5:30 p.m.
Smithville City Hall Council Chambers
107 W Main Street, Smithville, Mo.

MoDOT will host an open house style public meeting regarding improvements to the sidewalks along Route 169 between Route KK and Route 92 in the city of Smithville through an American Recovery and Reinvestment Act project. Plans include new sidewalks and pedestrian accommodations to help increase mobility and provide better access. Stop by between the hours of 4 and 5:30 p.m. to learn more about this project and how it will affect those in the area.

The City Council is currently working on a new policy to improve the city’s sidewalks.  Right now it is quite generic, but it does set a goal of bringing the sidewalks into good repair and sets up a systematic approach to inspecting and maintaining sidewalks. The new resolution is sponsored by Councilmembers Russ Johnson, Terry Riley, Cindy Circo, and John Sharp.

One caveat, this policy will focus on maintaining existing sidewalks.  Neighborhoods without any sidewalks will be the subject of another future effort.

Read more on the Council’s Transportation & Infrastructure blog.

Resolution 090500: “Directing the City Manager to establish a long-term, sustainable City-wide curb and sidewalk improvement program to improve the conditions of the City’s curbs and sidewalks to approved industry standard”.

Yesterday the KCMO City Council finally approved a complete overhaul of the city’s outdated planning/zoning/development regulations.  The new development code is a huge step towards more compact, sustainable, and multi-modal development.

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.