KC Streetcar project is near milestone. Crew will work around the clock to get it done
The KC Streetcar Main Street extension reaches a major milestone this week as crews will connect existing streetcar tracks with new rail in the Kite E. Singleton Maintenance Yard in the Columbus Park neighborhood, just east of the River Market in Kansas City.
The work, which is the first time the existing track will be tied into the new tracks, will require crews with KC Streetcar Constructors to work round the clock beginning Wednesday. The 24-hour-a-day work schedule will last for about eight days, according to a news release from the KC Streetcar Authority.
To minimize noise and light pollution, crews working overnight will monitor the decibel levels of all equipment used in the work zone. Buzzers that sound when equipment is driven in reverse will be switched to quieter white noise alarms to keep the work zone as muted as possible, the streetcar authority said.
The maintenance facility is where the KC Streetcar fleet is housed and maintained. It is being expanded to accommodate the Main Street extension and the growing streetcar fleet, which will increase from six streetcars to 14 by 2025.
Other work at the maintenance facility includes interior foundation work for the new bay that is being added to the north side of the existing facility. Steel framing for a large canopy cover is nearing completion, as well as the pole foundation work that will support the expanded overhead wire system that will power streetcars within the yard, according to the streetcar authority.
All construction at the maintenance facility will be complete in 2024 and will not impact regular streetcar operations and service.
The Main Street extension is a 3.5-mile expansion of the downtown streetcar system, stretching from Union Station to the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Construction officially kicked off in April 2022 and it is expected to open in 2025.
This story was originally published May 31, 2023 at 12:59 PM.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story should have said that all construction work at the Kite E. Singleton Maintenance Yard will be complete in 2024.
