Kansas City gets millions for another streetcar extension, this time heading north
Kansas City was awarded $14.2 million in federal funds to extend its streetcar line north from the River Market, the U.S. Department of Transportation told congressional offices Thursday.
Officials hope the news will help connect the burgeoning Missouri River area to downtown and spur even more development along the riverfront.
The starter streetcar line, which opened in 2016, runs from Union Station to the River Market. The grant will help extend that line just over half a mile via the Grand Boulevard viaduct to add one stop at the riverfront, near Union Berkley Riverfront apartments.
It’s the second major funding announcement for the streetcar this summer. Last month, the Federal Transit Administration, a division of the Transportation Department, announced it would grant more than $50 million toward a proposed southern extension, which would expand the line along Main Street from Union Station to 51st Street and Brookside Boulevard. That will connect the current downtown line to all of Midtown, the Country Club Plaza and the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
“It’s another huge announcement,” said Tom Gerend, executive director of the KC Streetcar Authority. “Again it’s sort of an affirmation of what we’re doing and where we’re going. And it’s going to allow us to grow in both directions.”
The streetcar’s northern extension was previously denied federal grant funding. Gerend said the area’s congressional delegation was crucial in landing the new award.
“We’re thrilled that it’s come through,” he said.
Construction on the southern extension was expected to start in late 2021 or early 2022, with the first streetcar running to UMKC in 2025. The timing of the northern extension hasn’t been determined yet.
Gerend said only about 30% of the design work on the riverfront route has been completed. The addition is expected to cost about $20 million.
The streetcar’s starter line downtown and the Main Street extension were partly funded by property tax levies. In all, the KC Streetcar Authority requested $174 million in grant funding for the $351 million southern extension. For now, the $50 million will allow the project to enter the final phases of planning. Officials expect to receive the remaining grant funding.
The other funds will come from a Transportation Development District, which raises property taxes in the area along the planned extension. Voters in the district approved the hike in 2018.
But the riverfront extension will rely on revenue from development, officials said.
More riverfront development
The property lining the Missouri River is owned by the Port Authority of Kansas City, which has led efforts to redevelop the long-neglected site into a larger mixed-use community.
Berkley Park has only grown in popularity during the pandemic as locals flock to the outdoors. Bar K, a dog park serving food and drinks, sits near the riverfront under the Heart of America Bridge.
Union Berkley Riverfront apartments opened nearby in 2018. And local developer Northpoint Development plans to build a $60 million apartment complex called CORE in the area.
Those two projects alone account for some 1,000 residents at the riverfront, said Jon Stephens, president and CEO of the port authority. And more are planned: two developers have expressed interest in building new units with the assistance of Low Income Housing Tax Credits.
But that’s just the beginning.
Stephens said the riverfront could support 5 million square feet of mixed use construction. The neighborhood could potentially house some 10,000 people, he said. And the streetcar line will only increase demand for apartments, offices and retail.
“It supercharges the development opportunities,” Stephens said. “And it gives us a lot of opportunity to really think holistically about how dense we desire our riverfront community to be.”
Stephens said most of the port’s funding for the streetcar extension will come from existing development agreements.
“We feel very confident right now with existing transactions and existing funding we’re in a really good position to move forward quickly,” he said.
While earlier grants called for new pedestrian and bike connections to the riverfront, those improvements were not part of the winning grant application. Still, local officials are looking at ways to make it easier to bike or walk to the riverfront from the River Market, said Stephens, who is also a member of the streetcar authority’s board.
And Stephens hopes to eventually expand the streetcar beyond Berkley.
“This is the first phase. There will be one streetcar stop at the riverfront,” he said. “But we’re already looking at the land use, engineering and planning to extend the streetcar.”
He hopes to see it extend to the East Bottoms and the Isle of Capri Casino, which will soon undergo a $61 million renovation and rebranding effort. Port KC, the landlord for the casino, envisions an eventual stop there that could serve as a transit hub, providing a place for riders to park their cars and hop on the streetcar to go downtown or board a bus for Kansas City International Airport.
‘Another major win’ for streetcar
Securing the funding for the extensions was a combined effort.
U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt, a Missouri Republican, wrote a letter of support for the project.
“The KC Streetcar extension will provide economic development opportunities by bridging existing railroad barriers and connecting 50 acres of active development, including housing, to the economic and commercial center of downtown Kansas City,” Blunt said.
In a statement Thursday, he said news of the streetcar grant — and a separate grant to fund a planning study for Interstates 29 and 35 in the Northland — were great news for the region.
“Both of these projects are aimed at making it easier for people to get where they need to go, whether it’s an employee taking the streetcar to work or a truck driver transporting goods to businesses across the country,” Blunt said.
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas said in a statement that he was pleased the project secured grant funding on the heels of the award for the southern extension. He thanked the congressional delegation, streetcar and transportation officials and the city’s taxpayers for “their support to increase mobility and transit options for Kansas Citians.”
“Since becoming mayor, I have met with administration leaders in Washington and Kansas City to advocate for our community’s transportation and infrastructure priorities, and I appreciate the U.S. Department of Transportation’s continued recognition of Kansas City’s commitment to providing free public options to all of our residents,” Lucas said.
In a statement, U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II called the news “another major win” for the streetcar, the people of Kansas City and the city’s businesses.
“As we’ve seen over the last four years, millions of riders have utilized this light-rail system to get around downtown free-of-charge to the benefit of small businesses, workers, and consumers alike,” Cleaver said. “I’m proud to have supported this grant funding, and I will continue to be a strong advocate for federal investments in infrastructure in the months and years ahead.”
This story was originally published September 10, 2020 at 11:11 AM.
