Downtown Complete Streets Study Holds Open House

By Kevin Collison

A proposed redesign plan that’s intended to introduce bus and bicycle lanes on two major downtown arteries, 11th and 12th streets, will be discussed at an open house today (March 2) from 4- to 6 p.m.

The proposed 11th and 12th Complete Streets Connections study has been in the works for more than a year and is intended to cover the corridor from Wyandotte to Troost. The open house will be held at the new East Village Transit Center at 700 E. 12th St.

“We’re very excited about this project and this partnership,” said Maggie Green, a city spokesperson. “This corridor is one of the busiest transit corridors in the metro.

“We very much need to address multi-modal connectivity and access.”

The study is a joint project between the city and the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority.

A map showing how 12th Street would be redesigned from Wyandotte to Main by adding bike and bus lanes. (Map from Complete Street Study)

The redesign of 12th Street from Walnut to McGee. (Map from Complete Street Study)

It’s key recommendations are:

—Bus-only lanes along the outside curb of 11th & 12th Street adjacent to existing bus stops.

—Two-way bicycle track on the inside curb of 12th Street (north side).

—Maintain at least one lane for vehicular traffic and right-turn lanes.

—Improved pedestrian crossings throughout.

—Improved signal coordination to minimize queuing.

—Improved coordination of construction closures within downtown grid.

—Event parking ingress improvements to reduce queuing along 12th Street

—Allow possible future expansion of both bike and bus network.

Green said the proposed protected bike lane would resemble the one recently completed by the city along Gillham from roughly Cleaver Boulevard to the East Crossroads. The dedicated bus lane would be painted red.

Bus lanes would be painted red as shown in this section of 27th street near Holmes.

The new proposal is an outgrowth of previous studies done by the city and the KCATA that identified the 11th and 12th streets corridor as a primary focus for improved bike access.

The design team will be available at the open house to share visual renderings and answer questions. You can find more information here.

While the city would like to quickly implement the study’s recommendation, complete funding has yet to be identified, Green said.

“The timeline for adopting and implementing recommendations is still undecided,” she said.

“KCATA currently has not identified a funding source for their improvements. The city has received a federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) grant that will be used towards the project.”