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.

The Center for Neighborhood Technology has just updated their Housing+Transportation Affordability Index.  It shows that Kansas Citians continue to spend more on transportation than on housing. We spend 33% of our household income on transportation, and just 23% on housing. Only Tampa and Pittsburgh spend as much on transportation as we do. (See CNT”s Penny Wise, Pound Fuelish). This is especially true in parts of the area where housing and jobs are far apart and transit is absent.

On the left is a map of housing costs as a percent of household income.  On the right is the same map with transportation costs figured in. When transportation is considered, the location of affordable housing significantly shrinks to areas close to where most jobs are located.

That $130,000 starter house in Kearney or Gardner really isn’t so affordable when you factor in the cost of commuting to employment centers like Downtown or College Boulevard.

Try it out for yourself.  You can zoom in to specific neighborhoods and look at other maps like transit access, employment, CO2 footprint, etc.

The Mid-America Regional Council is currently developing a new long-range transportation plan for the Kansas City metro, and it includes a new land-use scenario that would encourage more compact, sustainable, and efficient development patterns.  The plan focuses new investments around existing infrastructure, which will help developing communities grow more efficiently and older communities redevelop more successfully. This new development model would facilitate better investment in sustainable transportation choices like transit, walking, and bicycling.  It is called the Adaptive Land Use Scenario.

While MARC has created a very good plan, local elected officials need to hear from constituents that there is public support for making the policy changes to implement this plan.  You can learn about the Adaptive Land Use Scenario in Transportation 2040 at one of these upcoming public meetings:

Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2010
7–8:30 p.m.
Johnson County Central Resource Library
9875 West 87th St., Overland Park, KS 66212
[Map] [Please RSVP]

Thursday, Feb. 4, 2010
7–8:30 p.m.
Gladstone Community Center
6901 N. Holmes, Gladstone, MO 64118
[Map] [Please RSVP]

Thursday, Feb. 11, 2010
7–8:30 p.m.
Kansas City Public Library – Plaza Branch, Lower Level
4801 Main St., Kansas City, MO 64112
[Map] [Please RSVP]

The City’s Public Works Department just announced that on Saturday Wyandotte Street will become a two-way street between 6th and 12th.

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

Continue reading ‘Yet another one-way street is being eliminated Downtown’ »

Volunteers are needed next week to count bicycle and pedestrian traffic at several locations around Kansas City. Collecting this data is critical to getting better facilities like bike lanes, trails, bridge access, sidewalks, etc. Please consider volunteering if at all possible.

From: Deb Ridgway, Bicycle & Pedestrian Coordinator, City of Kansas City, MO.

In an effort to document the actual number of cyclists and pedestrians in Kansas City, the City of Kansas City, MO will be conducting survey/counts in October. This effort is in conjunction with the National Documentation Project.

Counts/surveys will be done at ten locations on two separate dates/times. We need a total of 20 – 25 volunteers; a minimum of 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, October 7th, 4:30 – 5:30 PM at Mid-America Regional Council, 600 Broadway.

Volunteers are needed for the following dates:
Thursday, October 8th, 4:00 – 6:00 PM
Saturday, October 10th, 10:00 AM – 12:00 Noon

If you are interested in volunteering please contact Deb Ridgway, Bicycle Pedestrian Coordinator, at deb_ridgway@kcmo.org or (816) 513-2592.

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

Professor Robert Freilich, Ruby M. Hulen Professor Emeritus, University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law

Professor Freilich will discuss the sustainability movement focusing on how the new Stimulus and Transportation Acts encourage states and localities to adopt sustainable energy policies. He will focus on specific state, city-county, and regional plans that have been successfully implemented and will conclude with some suggestions for the Kansas City region

Thursday, September 17, 2009 at UMKC
5 p.m. reception – School of Law Student Lounge
6 p.m. public lecture – E.E. (Tom) Thompson Courtroom
University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law
500 East 52nd Street (NE corner of 52nd and Oak)
Program is free of charge and open to the public, but R.S.V.P.s are appreciated to 816-235-1644 or pinkmanm@umkc.edu.
Parking is available in the pay station lot on the west side of Oak between 51st and 52nd Streets

More information (PDF)

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.

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.