‘Decades in the making’: Kansas City gets $50M to extend streetcar south of Plaza
Kansas City will receive more than $50 million in federal funds to extend its streetcar south to the Country Club Plaza, the Federal Transit Administration announced Wednesday.
Kansas City’s current streetcar line runs from the River Market to Union Station. Officials have been planning for years to extend the line south along Main Street and across Brush Creek to end at 51st Street and Brookside Boulevard near the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
The $50.8 million announced Wednesday will allow the streetcar project to enter the final planning phases. Officials have asked for $174 million in all. According to a release from the KC Streetcar Authority, officials expect to receive that.
The project is expected to cost $351 million.
The rest of the 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.
“The significance of today’s federal funding announcement for the KC Streetcar cannot be overstated,” Tom Gerend, executive director of the KC Streetcar Authority, said in a release. “This federal funding will allow our team to advance final design and move into long awaited construction, realizing a transit vision for Kansas City that has been decades in the making.”
The expansion is a “game changer for Kansas City,” said Donna Mandlebaum, a spokeswoman for the authority. She said officials hope to see the same economic growth along the extension in Midtown that came to the original downtown streetcar line.
According to a release from the authority, construction is expected to start in late 2021 or early 2022, with the first streetcar running down the extension in 2025.
The news was widely celebrated by local leaders.
Mayor Quinton Lucas said the funds would allow the project to be completed on schedule and provide construction jobs. He said he appreciated “Washington’s recognition of our city’s growth and development needs.”
“I thank our Congressional delegation, the KC Streetcar Authority, Ride KC, and our taxpayers for their support to increase mobility and transit options for Kansas Citians,” Lucas said in a statement. “Along with Zero-Fare Transit passed in the spring, this shows once again Kansas City’s commitment to mobility for all.”
Sen. Roy Blunt, a Missouri Republican, said in a statement that extending the line would “boost economic development and provide reliable no-cost transportation to more people in the region.”
“I’ve been glad to join my congressional colleagues in advocating for this project on the federal level,” Blunt said. “I look forward to continuing to work with them and in partnership with the KC Streetcar Authority, KC Area Transportation Authority, Mayor Lucas, and local stakeholders to move this project forward.”
U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II, a Kansas City Democrat, called the original streetcar route a “tremendous success” and said he was happy to work with fellow members of Congress to support the application for funding for the extension.
“With this funding, the KC Streetcar will significantly expand its scope, reach a greater number of Kansas Citians, and make our city far more accessible, all while boosting the local economy,” Cleaver said.
A map of the planned route on the streetcar authority’s website shows it will stop approximately every four blocks at 27th and Main streets; 31st and Main; Armour Boulevard and Main; 39th and Main; 43rd and Main; 45th and Main; Ward Parkway and Main; and 51st and Brookside Boulevard.
This story was originally published August 26, 2020 at 9:57 AM.
