GRID wrote: ↑Tue Dec 11, 2018 1:02 am
flyingember wrote: ↑Mon Dec 10, 2018 1:53 pm
GRID wrote: ↑Mon Dec 10, 2018 12:46 pm
What a terrible master plan. When will people understand that there is pretty much ZERO justification for any sort of fixed rail to KCI Airport, let alone heavy rail.
Realize that rail doesn't NEED to have justification by itself. Rail to the airport is a great plan when you take away the need for a multi-billion dollar widening of I-29
There is just no way. Not in the next 50 years. A light rail line to KCI would cost at least 1.5 billion dollars. Probably closer to 2.5 billion. It would get no federal money at all (terrible stats) and ridership would be so low that it would cost a fortune to operate. Widening a few spots of 29 (mainly just from 169 to 35, adding another lane under 635 etc) is probably a 100-200 million dollar project.
I-29 is not very busy and will probably not need to be widened beyond six lanes for at least 20-30 years if ever. If any widening happens in the Northland in the next 20 years, it will be 169 or 35.
Very very few people would use a train from downtown to KCI. That is a very long route for such a low density corridor. A high end express coach bus route from the plaza to KCI via downtown would be far more user friendly and comfortable for airport users about about 1.5 billion dollars cheaper.
KC just needs to concentrate on building a high quality street car system in the urban core with a better regional bus system to feed into it.
Like I said, light rail might work along the I-70 corridor (only on the MO side), but considering that I-70 on the MO side still looks like shit along most of the route because Modot throws random stop gap band aids at it rather than a full rebuild which was needed 15-20 years ago, a rebuilt 70 with light rail is a long shot. But it's the only way to make rail work in metro KC. Running rail along the old RR right of way through Raytown is a joke and will probably only move 1500 people a day. Gotta spend some money and build a real transit line or not do it all and I don't see KC, Jackson County or Missouri spending any money, let alone what it would take to build a true light rail line in dedicated ROW that is properly designed to attract 30-50k riders a day.
That's my opinion anyway.
It's obvious you don't understand the problems I-29 faces and it needs far more than $200 million in work. It's not a number of lanes issue, is an interchanges issue, and they have problems which won't be cheap to fix.
I-29 southbound into the 29/35 split needs work as it backs up now. Between 169 and 635 needs major work even though it is already 4 lanes, it is horribly designed and requires you to cut across 2 lanes in a short amount of area, if you are coming from 169 northbound and are heading to 29N like many people. 29 south approaching 635 is getting bad, and can back up to 64th st exit some mornings, and those coming up from 56th st have to merge across 2 lanes of heavy traffic in like 100 feet which is dangerous AF. Barry/152 are getting busier and those exits are already too close together. The fact that it's a cloverleaf (can't believe MODOT allowed a new cloverleaf) means it will that interchange alone will need $250+ million as 152 traffic keeps getting heavier. Don't forget twin creeks area is expected to gain 40,000 new residents and I would expect many of them to work in JOCO which means taking 29 to 635.
The major interchanges of I-29 are too damn close to other intersections because it was a horribly deigned highway which means the upgrades are going to get expensive. (29/35 too close to davidson and parvin; 29/635 is on top of 56th and riverside exits, and 29/152 is on top of barry road exits. those 3 choke points will need more than a billion alone. So upgrade those 3 interchanges, or build a light rail line? I vote light rail, but that isn't going to be what happens.
The 64th st and 72nd st exits will probably be changed to diverging diamonds within 5-10 years knowing modot, and those will be the cheapest upgrades of the route.
Now 169 from 29 all the way up to smithville can be upgraded much cheaper with essentially no bridge work, really just needs axillary lanes between the exits and is maybe like $100 million worth of work would make a massive upgrade, while 29's interchanges will make it's upgrade expensive AF.