‘It’s a mess’: Is it a risk to travel Main Street during KC Streetcar expansion?
Thinking of traveling on Main Street in Kansas City between now and 2025? Proceed with caution or consider using alternative routes. K C Water’s Upgrades on Main project is to largely thank for the traffic nightmare commuters have faced since before the beginning of the year.
Utility crews are replacing an aging infrastructure — water and sewer lines — in preparation for the extension of the KC Streetcar from Union Station to the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Traffic cones have reduced sections of Main to one lane in each direction.
A recent trip southbound on Main Street from the River Market area began without much fuss. A few blocks away from Crown Center, near 27th Street and Main, a procession of construction cones, steel plates and workers operating heavy machinery loomed. The worn pavement made for a bumpy excursion. The return trip from the south Plaza area to downtown on Main makes you wonder which lane belongs to which driver traveling in opposite directions. Was it two lanes closed in both directions or three? We still don’t know.
Motorists, pedestrians and cyclists must exercise caution when traveling on Main Street. Drivers must eliminate as many distractions as possible, including the use of cell phones and other electronic devices. Cyclists must obey all traffic signals and signs. Pedestrians must remain vigilant as well. We all have a responsibility to protect our fellow Kansas Citians by paying attention to the road and surroundings.
If driving down Main Street is dangerous, one can only imagine the potential hazards faced by pedestrians and bicyclists. Crossing one of Kansas City’s major north-south thoroughfares on foot is akin to a game of Frogger, an arcade game from the last millennium. Proceed at your own risk.
“It’s a mess,” Kevin Klinkenberg, executive director of the community and economic development agency Midtown KC Now, said. “Everyone knows it’s a mess.”
Klinkenberg isn’t critical of the project. Local business owners understand the necessary evil needed for economic growth, he said. But businesses in midtown have been affected by the work.
“It’s a tough construction project,” Klinkenberg said. “But we’re excited about what’s to come.”
Construction, disruption will continue until 2025
Business owners spoke of a barrage of issues that have affected their bottom line. Temporary road signs are confusing, they said. The bright orange cones used to help the flow of traffic are often changed, leading to wrecks and fender benders. Walk-up customers have dwindled and repeat consumers have been reluctant to traverse the area.
Pedestrians should not be forced to the edges of the street because of a lack of access to sidewalks on Main between Armour and Linwood boulevards.
Thankfully, workers clad in bright green safety vests and helmets were somewhat protected by makeshift barricades.
But are any of us safe to travel on Main Street in midtown Kansas City?
The water and sewer line work is expected to last until the summer, when ground is broken on the new streetcar line, city officials said. Completion of the streetcar extension is expected in 2025.
Progress is a process and change is inevitable. Folks in Midtown, and the rest of Kansas City for that matter, aren’t used to things happening as quickly as they are now, proponents of the project said. The work began on the utility project earlier this year. But other street maintenance work along Main prior to the COVID-19 shutdown in 2020 preceded this latest logistical nightmare.
So far, the city has not offered any financial relief to offset the loss of revenue for nearby businesses. But shouldn’t city officials want to help entrepreneurs struggling to make ends meet through no fault of their own? Establishments such as LaMar’s Donuts & Coffee on Main and Main Smoke Shop KC have survived thanks to a loyal customer base. Other retail shops have not been as lucky.
Managers are trying to maintain control of the traffic situation but at times it seems more like organized chaos. The hodgepodge traffic calming strategy leaves a lot to be desired.