KCMO Downtown Streetcar

[flyingember]

Somewhere I saw a plan to use back in parking.

with 10 minute headways ~90% of the time there won't be a vehicle. making parking spots realistic.
head in or back in, it will be less blocking than Main Street where it's parallel parking

[DaveKCMO]

angled parking would stay, but be changed to a back-in configuration (like mcgee in the crossroads, which is the new city standard for angled parking). there will still be a one-way traffic lane that would then be shared with the streetcar. a new traffic signal at 3rd & delaware would manage cross-traffic at 3rd.

as an aside, the plan would also add a traffic signal at 3rd & grand (as well as tighten up the intersection to make it safer for pedestrians).

[bbqboy]

http://archpaper.com/news/articles.asp?id=6452

[KCMax]

KC wants to get neighbors onboard streetcars

Mayor Sly James began recruiting nearby communities last week to consider connecting with the streetcar system that will, at least at its start, run primarily along Main Street....


Michael Smith, an assistant city administrator for North Kansas City, said the city is interested in plans for the streetcar system and hopes for a public transit tie-in to other parts of the metro area.

[flyingember]

I have to give props to everyone keeping the movement going on the project. Both planning for the initial phase + expansion sounds like a big project.

[DaveKCMO]

ride the route: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmrQyN6KETc

[taxi]

That is cool!
I especially like the way the streetcar can drive right over cars. I want one.

[DaveKCMO]

That is cool!
I especially like the way the streetcar can drive right over cars. I want one.

one? ha! we're going to purchase 4 of them very soon!

[flyingember]

the video did show a related need to cut Main St NB between 6th and 7th down to 1 lane with more than just paint.

it's currently 2 lanes wide and it feels like the inside lane should be able to go straight too, even though that's a bad idea

A non-trivial number of times that's happened to me where someone made their own inside lane on that segment. I was in the only lane at the light that could go straight yet people didn't care I could have crashed into them if I had been taking the left diagonal

[DaveKCMO]

the video did show a related need to cut Main St NB between 6th and 7th down to 1 lane with more than just paint.

it's currently 2 lanes wide and it feels like the inside lane should be able to go straight too, even though that's a bad idea

A non-trivial number of times that's happened to me where someone made their own inside lane on that segment. I was in the only lane at the light that could go straight

have brought this whole intersection on main at 7th to the attention of public works. may get some attention unrelated to streetcar.

[flyingember]

the video did show a related need to cut Main St NB between 6th and 7th down to 1 lane with more than just paint.

it's currently 2 lanes wide and it feels like the inside lane should be able to go straight too, even though that's a bad idea

A non-trivial number of times that's happened to me where someone made their own inside lane on that segment. I was in the only lane at the light that could go straight

have brought this whole intersection on main at 7th to the attention of public works. may get some attention unrelated to streetcar.

excellent

For those unaware of the issues, when looking at google streetview going NB, take the piece of concrete where the interstate shields are (ignoring that one takes the other branch to go eastbound), we need a bumpout there to block the fake inside bus turn lane at the intersection and a bigger bumpout at the NE corner of 7th and Main to add protected parking for the outside parking lane.

people illegally ignore that there's three lanes with a specific setup. on the outside a right turn only lane, on the inside a left diagonal lane and a middle lane for straight and left. people in the inside lane would just go straight too, ignoring that if I hadn't been going straight they'd be in an accident and at fault and probably shoved into oncoming traffic (which if there ever was any would be bad)

now imagine a streetcar smacking into someone doing that who wasn't paying attention. it's not the car that would win the fight.

this whole area is a mess. it's interesting how they took the old Parallel Main and Delaware and merged them two blocks sooner than originally designed and still messed it up. the two-braches of Main is a big part of the problem. if they removed one branch (I'm thinking the NB one) it would be a much better intersection

[flyingember]

SB from 7th to 8th, would it make sense to make the outside lane transit only?
8th to 9th it's half the stop and half a right turn lane
8th st is one way eastbound so there's no right turns

it's not like cars have a really good reason to use the segment

[kcmiz]

ride the route: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmrQyN6KETc

I'll preface this comment with, "I'm no engineer, but..." The route seems excessively winding. From what I've read, curved track work adds considerably to the cost and length of construction. Are they trying to avoid utilities or what? In my ideal world, the would have chosen Grand Ave with its wide ROW and run the track straight down a center median in an exclusive guideway with shared center station stops. For the extension to UMKC, I hope go that route with longer stop spacing to increase the speed (27th, 31st, Amour, 39th, 43rd, 47th, 51st). If they stop every two blocks, it will take an hour to get from UMKC to Downtown.

On a different note, the chosen station locations in the River Market pose a potential problem if the line is extended to NKC or to the Old NE. Northbound trains would only hit one of the three River Market stations without backtracking. Southbound trains would hit two of three. Does River Market really need three stations? Two stations seems plenty.

[DaveKCMO]

i will get an answer from the actual engineer. hold, please...

[bbqboy]

Wow! A new poster!

[pash]

.

[KCPowercat]

Streetcar letter of the day.... From Westwood. My favorite line

"visitors will balk at the prospect of SLOGGING their way to and from union station"

.3 miles if you take the outdoor route from front steps of crown center to union station. People slog further than that at arrowhead or independence center or the legends.

Never mind it's done that way to prepare for 2nd phase south which finally won't take that idiotic jog through crown center

[DaveKCMO]

slogging in a fully-accessible, climate-controlled tube directly connecting the two destinations (that also happens to have stunning views in almost every direction).

what a maroon!

[DaveKCMO]

Also, do you know what the travel speed simulated in the video is? Faster than the streetcar will run, I think, but just wanted to get a better feel for how true to life it is. ...

i will ask what speed was simulated and why it doesn't show the vehicle stopping for 20 seconds at stops (not all the time, by the way, only when requested). officially, the streetcar will not be able to exceed the posted speed limit (25mph in river market & loop, 35 mph in crossroads).

[chaglang]

Streetcar letter of the day.... From Westwood. My favorite line

"visitors will balk at the prospect of SLOGGING their way to and from union station"

.3 miles if you take the outdoor route from front steps of crown center to union station. People slog further than that at arrowhead or independence center or the legends.

Never mind it's done that way to prepare for 2nd phase south which finally won't take that idiotic jog through crown center

That's obviously from someone who hasn't been in the Link lately. That thing is clogged with families happily slogging between CC and US. For whatever reason, small children absolutely love sprinting through that thing.