Streetcar extension enters final tests. What transit-only lanes mean for KC drivers?
Kansas City streetcars are rolling through Midtown in full simulated service for the first time this week, giving drivers and neighbors a firsthand preview of what to expect when the extension opens to the public in a few weeks.
The Main Street extension, connecting the River Market to the University of Missouri-Kansas City is set to open Oct. 24. This full simulated service marks the final stages of preparation before welcoming riders on the expanded route.
“This is a very exciting time,”said Donna Mandelbaum, a spokesperson for the KC Streetcar Authority. “This is basically one of the last tests before we can open service to the public.”
The simulated runs are designed to mirror everyday operations along the new extension, Mandelbaum said, testing everything from schedules and stop times to signal coordination and how well the power substations handle multiple streetcars on the route.
The simulation also allows for additional operator training on the route. For the first time, the transit service will activate its new operations control center, which centrally monitors what is happening on the tracks and at the stops, as well as all the streetcars on the route.
New traffic patterns coming
The simulated service also allows drivers and residents along the route to get used to new traffic patterns. A key change is the introduction of new transit-only lanes, which are reserved for streetcars and buses.
That’s a big change for the streetcar system, as cars and streetcars share a lane in downtown.
“It’s very similar to bus-only lanes,” Mandelbaum said. “It’s for streetcar and buses only and not automobiles, unless an automobile needs to access a side street, a business, a parking lot or something like that.”
Marking of the transit-only lanes has been completed between East 51st Street and Linwood Boulevard, but still needs to be done between Linwood and Pershing Road.
The new transit-only lanes were introduced to keep streetcars running efficiently and also improve pedestrian and overall safety by shifting car traffic away from the curb and slowing it down, Mandelbaum said.
“Most importantly, it makes the streetcar really efficient in its own right-of-way, its own lane, so people get to where they need to go safely and on time,” Mandelbaum said.
The streetcar authority has already noticed that the routes with the transit-only lanes run more efficiently, but once downtown, streetcars slow down a little because they are sharing lanes with cars.
Simulation to continue for several weeks
For the next several weeks, seven to eight streetcars will run along the entire route from the River Market to UMKC.
“This is actually the service we would run on a daily basis,” Mandelbaum.
Passengers riding the streetcar south have to exit at Union Station, like they are used to under the current service. Once everyone is off, the streetcar continues south, making stops but not picking up passengers along the way.
When the streetcar comes back north, passengers can board at Union Station and ride north through downtown.
The testing will mimic the same hours as the downtown route, possibly ending at 10 p.m. on some nights. The streetcar operates from 6 a.m. to midnight Monday through Thursday, 6 a.m. Friday until 1 a.m. Saturday, 7 a.m. Saturday until 1 a.m. Sunday, and 7 a.m. to midnight on Sunday.
“We’re trying to keep the same schedule we do downtown so that people can get used to seeing streetcars no matter what the hour is, because we’re only two months away,” Mandelbaum said. “It’s going to be here before you know it.”
