Kansas City Streetcar

Downtown Streetcar Moves Forward

Kansas City’s Downtown Streetcar is moving full speed ahead. The two-mile line will run largely on Main Street from the River Market to Union Station. The streetcar will run in existing street lanes, just like other vehicles.

The streetcar route will include 18 stops, spaced roughly two blocks apart. Construction of the line and stops will be completed two to three blocks at a time, and opening day is expected in mid-2015. Utility investigations started, and construction is expected to begin this summer.

KCATA serves as a technical adviser for the city’s compliance with Federal Transit Administration criteria and guidelines, and to the streetcar authority.

To follow the progress of the downtown streetcar, visit http://www.kcstreetcar.org.

Back

Light Rail

In 2008, voters defeated a proposal to fund a light rail line from Vivion Road and North Oak Trafficway to Bruce R. Watkins Roadway and 63rd Street.  KCATA is completing Phase II of the Alternative Analysis, which will be available on this website when finalized.

Below is information about the project and light rail planning in Kansas City.

Final Land Use Summary

The Final Land Use Report [PDF format] analyzes conditions and current plans and policies affecting development patterns within the proposed transit corridor. The report discussed the proposed route in relation to the federal government’s New Starts criteria. The report also includes recommendations based on both this land use analysis and the real estate market analysis, which assesses the future development potential within several market areas.

The project study area is an approximate 12-mile transit corridor between the intersection of I-29 with North Oak Trafficway and US-169 in the northern portion of Kansas City, Missouri to the intersection of 63rd Street and Bruce R. Watkins Drive. The corridor includes the Kansas City metropolitan region’s most concentrated employment and residential areas and many of the region’s significant institutional and cultural attractions.

Assessment of Proposed Light Rail Corridor

This technical memorandum [PDF format] provides a land use assessment for the proposed Kansas City 14-mile light rail corridor. When preparing funding recommendations to Congress, the Federal Transit Administration undertakes a formal evaluation of all projects applying for New Starts funding. This technical memorandum explains the conclusions of a land use assessment. It includes a summary and slide show of the findings. The assessment is based on the FTA land use evaluation process and breaks the alignment into eleven discrete Market Areas. In their current conditions, none of the market areas provide a strong case for benefiting greatly from, or supporting, a light rail line. However, many of the market areas are in flux, or could be redeveloped to become more transit oriented. 

North/South Corridor Alternative Analysis Report (Draft)

The North/South Corridor runs from Vivion Road in the Northland to Meyer Boulevard in the south and encompasses many of the region’s most important traffic generators. The Alternatives Analysis is intended to provide decision-makers with the information they require to assess a major investment in transit.

North South Corridor DRAFT Alternatives Analysis Report (PDF files) - Chapters 1-2 - Chapter 3 - Chapter 4 - Chapter 5 - Chapter 6 - Chapters 7-11

Next Steps for Light Rail in Kansas City

The results of the Alternatives Analysis will serve to inform the ongoing efforts being led by MARC to develop a long-term regional transit solution.

Video Simulation

A video shows what light rail in Kansas City may have looked like, including the line proposed in the November 2008 election. The video includes stations and light rail vehicles.

Back

MAX & Bus Rapid Transit

MAX Bus Rapid Transit service provides faster, more frequent service, and features the latest technology in the transit industry. MAX uses easy-to-identify vehicles. Its stops are well-lit, with highly visible information markers and newly designed passenger shelters. Information markers feature real-time MAX arrival information so that customers may wait with greater confidence.

Read additional facts on MAX BRT service.

MAX Is Coming To Troost

Due to the success of MAX on Main, a second BRT line will open on Troost Avenue in 2011. Get the latest: Route - Timeline - Green Technologies - Funding

MAX’s popularity expands to Troost, bringing:

• Fewer stops for faster service
• Well-lit, attractive stations will feature real-time arrival signs loaded with information
• Uniquely designed, accessible passenger shelters with attractive landscaping
• Hybrid buses
• Easy, convenient schedules and route maps
• The latest GPS technology for reliable, rapid service

 

Kansas City’s first BRT line, otherwise known as MAX, currently serves River Market, downtown, Crown Center, midtown and the Plaza. Read more about the MAX.

 

Back

State Ave. Connex

Enhanced Transit Facilities Planned for State Avenue

KCATA and Unified Government Transit have secured federal TIGER funding to improve the existing Minnesota/State Avenue transit corridor. The improvements will be made along the transit route that begins at the 10th & Main MetroCenter in downtown Kansas City, Mo., travels through Downtown Kansas City, Ks., and ends at Village West at 109th and Parallel Parkway in Wyandotte County . The route will serve activity centers and neighborhoods along State and Minnesota avenues. State Avenue Connex will be complete in 2013.

Why Transit is Important to State Avenue

Effective transit connects employment centers, educational facilities, neighborhoods and shopping and entertainment areas. As a major east-west route through the Kansas City metropolitan area, State Avenue links Kansas City’s revitalized urban core with new development occurring farther west. With two new transit centers providing regional connections, State Avenue Connex supports the regional vision for enhanced and expanded regional transit in Kansas City. State Avenue Connex will improve transit facilities and continue to provide access to jobs, support economic development, and provide efficient transportation.

What’s Included with the Improvements
State Avenue Connex will include new transit centers at 7th and Minnesota Avenue and at 47th and State Avenue (Indian Springs). Both transit centers will be custom-built with improved passenger waiting areas and amenities such as real-time passenger information. Other State Avenue corridor Connex stop improvements include:

• Bus passenger shelters and benches
• Bus stop platforms
• Landscaping and environmentally friendly features
• Improved pedestrian connections

Click on the map for a closer view.

Design Process and Schedule

KCATA, UGT, business leaders, neighborhoods, elected officials, the general public, other stakeholders, and a consultant design team are working together to develop State Avenue Connex. The preliminary design process began in the spring of 2011, and final design will be complete by winter 2011-2012. Construction began in Summer 2012 and finish in 2013. The process involves:

• Developing preliminary and final transit design plans for the corridor.
• Meeting with an advisory group of targeted State Avenue stakeholders to discuss needs, concerns, and ideas for improving the transit corridor.
• Holding public meetings to gather feedback about the design plans.
• Communicating with riders and the public in a number of ways, including online at http://www.kcata.org.

How State Avenue Connex Improvements are Funded

A Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) Grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation is funding the State Avenue Connex bus enhancements. The grant awarded last year included $10.5 million for the design and implementation of these physical enhancements along the corridor. State Avenue Connex is an intermediate step to a MAX Bus Rapid Transit Line.

View a Fact Sheet about the State Avenue project. [PDF]

Back

TIGER Projects

TIGER (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery) is a discretionary grant program of the U.S. Department of Transportation funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. In 2010, the Kansas City region was awarded, on a competitive basis, $50 million in TIGER funding to make transportation infrastructure improvements along several regional transit corridors and in the Green Impact Zone in Kansas City, Mo.

To track the progress on these projects visit the TIGER Tracker.

Green Impact Zone

TIGER funds will be used to rehabilitate the infrastructure in the Green Impact Zone, focusing on better transit stop amenities, traffic-signal improvements, street resurfacing and sidewalk replacement, Troost Avenue pedestrian bridge, and other neighborhood improvements.

Missouri Corridors

Approximately $1.42 million in TIGER funds will be used for Missouri corridors transit improvements (North Oak Trafficway and U.S. 24 and U.S. 40 corridors in eastern Jackson County). The project consists of improving bus stops and increasing pedestrian access to and from these bus stops.

State Avenue Transit Improvements

A total of $10.3 million of the $50 million TIGER grant awarded to the Kansas City region was allocated to the State Avenue corridor. TIGER grant funds in the east-west State Avenue corridor in Kansas City, Kan., will support existing transit services through improved stops, shelters, pedestrian connections and building two new transit centers.

The two new transit centers for the State Avenue corridor will be located at the corner of 7th Street and Minnesota Avenue and at the corner of 47th Street and State Avenue. These facilities will bring dedicated transit centers to downtown Kansas City, Kan. to facilitate transit connections and transfers.

Back

Troost MAX Artwork

For the first time, the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority has commissioned original public art at prominent locations along Troost MAX. Artists drew upon community input and local history to create interesting and compelling works.

31st & Troost, “Catalyst,” Matt Dehaemers

This large-scale incorporates linguistic history in the structure’s design. Dehaemers designed the structure to resemble a tree, playing off one origin of the word “Troost,” which can mean tree. The motion of the structure results in a creation that is constantly in flux, much like the history of Troost.
Dehaemers recently completed Seven Sentinels at the city’s vehicle impound facility. Nationally, he has been recognized by the Public Art Network’s Year in Review for four years in a row starting in 2004, and again in 2009.
See a video of the sculpture in motion.

39th & Troost, “Unite,” Jefrë

The Catholic Key covered the March 2011 dedication of Unite.
Jefrë created a sculpture that draws on the image of hands coming together, evoking a joining together or way to cross a divide. The artist worked with area children, gathering drawings of what the children want to be when they grow up. These drawings of doctors, firefighters, engineers and other vocations are incorporated into the sculpture.
Jefrë is an internationally acclaimed emerging public artist based in Miami who has received numerous awards for his innovative designs. After ten years working with international design firms, Jefrë launched his own couture public art studio in 2008 with a focus on environmental art, green roofs, boutique plazas, parks, and public art master plans. In his first year, he has been selected for six national blind public art competitions in New Orleans, Washington D.C., Toledo, Palm Beach, Orlando, and Philadelphia.

75th & Troost, “Every Day I Have the Blues,” David Dahlquist

The installation chosen for the 75th & Troost MetroStation is a tribute to Kansas City’s rich jazz history. The sculpture is an oversized piano structure with LED lighting. It is a powerful red epoxy painted steel and aluminum structure. The open, cantilevered framework suggests the raised lid of a grand piano; pedestrians can actually walk under the structure on a walkway or sit on benches resembling the piano’s keyboard.
David B. Dahlquist is a nationally-recognized public artist and teacher. He is the Creative Director of RDG Dahlquist Art Studio, a comprehensive design and fabrication facility within RDG Planning & Design, specializing in the integration of artwork within building architecture and the landscape.

The Troost Bridge

The new bridge over Brush Creek is a project of the City of Kansas City, Mo.  On the pedestrian walkway of the bridge, a series of polished stainless steel of panels will reflect light throughout the pedestrian walkways on the bridge. The panels will evoke the movement of the water flowing under the bridge, as well as the motion of the pedestrian, bicycle and transit traffic across the bridge. See drawings of the bridge:
View from the pedestrian walkway
Side view of the Troost Bridge at daytime
View of the reflective glass wall at nighttime
Side view of the Troost Bridge at nighttime

Back

Troost MAX Funding

Funding for MAX

Capital federal funds are being used for planning, construction, vehicles, stations, and technology:

• Total budget $30.6 million, $24.5 million from federal grants
• This includes $18 million for construction and fabrication

Local entities are providing a required 20% match:

• KCP&L Streetscape Funding
• City of Kansas City, Mo., PIAC funds for streetscape
• Property and funds for Park-and-Ride at 31st & Troost
• Pedestrian improvements on Troost Bridge at Brush Creek
• Other ATA and city sources

Back

Troost MAX Green Technologies

Green Technology

Troost MAX incorporates green features and technologies.

The MAX fleet includes five hybrid electric buses. Hybrid buses operate on battery power from start-up until a speed of 25 mph at which time a diesel engine supplies power and recharges the batteries.  This action reduces nitrous oxide emissions and increases fuel economy by 10%-20%.

Other green features at select stations and park-and-rides include:

• Rain gardens at several MAX stations to capture and filter water run-off
• Posts or bollards that include solar-powered lighting
• Recycling receptacles
• Solar-powered trash compactors
• Pervious concrete that allows water to soak through to the subsoil, reducing the amount of polluted water that runs off of the pavement surface

Hybrid vehicle

Rain gardens at stations

Recycling bins

Solar-powered lighted bollards

Back

Troost MAX Route

The Route

See a map of the route.
Troost MAX will travel from downtown to the Crossroads district, Hospital Hill and south along Troost to Bannister. The route will travel on Bannister Road, east to The Trails Transit Center at 89th & Hillcrest.  Troost MAX will offer local service south of 75th Street. 

Other major destinations will include the East Village development (currently under construction), Discovery Center, UMKC Hospital Hill and Main Campus, Rockhurst University, The Landing, Truman Medical Center, and Children’s Mercy Hospital. 

Park and Rides will be located at 31st & Troost, 95th & Troost, and the Bannister & Hillcrest area.

Trail Connections are a vital part of Troost MAX. A future trail between Troost & Bannister will connect to the Trolley Track Trail near 87th & Garfield.

A major part of the Troost MAX project is the City of Kansas City’s construction of a new bridge over Brush Creek. The bridge will offer improved safety and transit access, as well as adding to the beauty of the area. See drawings of the new bridge.

MAX stations are well-lit and feature a distinctive, easily identifiable information marker, and a specially designed passenger shelter. The stations are clearly marked and named, featuring easy-to-understand route maps and real-time transit information. Riders have instant and constantly updated access to the exact arrival time through GPS technology and real-time signs at MAX stations. See drawings of the stations and shelters.

Trail connection between Troost & Bannister and 87th & Garfield

The new Brush Creek Bridge

Stations and Shelters

             

Back