RailNews

KC Streetcar Expansion Plans

Hot on the heels of a very successful grand opening, proponents of the Kansas City Streetcar are already proposing expansion plans. According to an article in the Kansas City Star, two plans are in the offing. Both plans emerged within a month of the starter line’s opening hoping to ride the wave of public enthusiasm concerning light rail.

One proposed by the Regional Transit Alliance, a streetcar supporter group, calls for an extension of the 2.2-mile starter line another 3.75 miles south along Main Street, terminating at 51st Street and Brookside Boulevard. The route is touted as being a backbone corridor that connects downtown, Union Station, and the University of Missouri–Kansas City.

With this proposal a lot of legal changes will have to be made. The 2.2-mile starter line that opened this year was funded through the formation of a special tax district. The same model is proposed for the line extension. Estimated cost for the new portion of the line is expected to be about $227 million. The line should add eight cars to the fleet and could be up and running by 2022 at the earliest.

Clay Chastain, a longtime transit activist, is pushing a rival plan that will expand the system citywide. His attempt includes turning in about 1,700 petition signatures to get a measure on the November ballot for a 25-year sales tax increase to support a $2 billion system stretching from Kansas City International Airport on the north to south Kansas City. Again, 2022 is the earliest cars on the expanded system would start rolling.

—Passenger Train Journal

This article was posted on: June 30, 2016