OFFICIAL - Main Street Streetcar Extension

[flyingember]

Doesn't the S-Line streetcar have some single track?

[DaveKCMO]

Doesn't the S-Line streetcar have some single track?

yes, and it's hobbled by it.

[KCPowercat]

Bad weather was sold as one of the strengths of rail and while it was up running before buses yesterday last night and today there is some sort of problem shutting down the streetcars....Not a good sell for expansion. What the hell is going on?

[mean]

Presumably something broke. If it is weather related, I'd assume it is the extreme cold causing mechanical issues, not the snow.

[KCPowercat]

Later they tweeted it was ice on the line (known issue with this technology) but also testing switches and signals....I feel like the streetcar team needs to understand how much this is a dress rehearsal for an expansion line. Clear communication is key to alleviating future voters concerns....And understand this isn't a joy ride device, it's actual transit for some....Tweets just saying "delays happening" without details isn't acceptable as the line gets bigger and more people depend on it.

[DaveKCMO]

Bad weather was sold as one of the strengths of rail and while it was up running before buses yesterday last night and today there is some sort of problem shutting down the streetcars....Not a good sell for expansion. What the hell is going on?

that shitty switch at union station was the biggest culprit. lesson learned for expansion: don't cheap out on switches on the revenue track!

since the switch was failing, they were unable to keep cars running to prevent ice build-up on the catenary.

[KCPowercat]

That was my fear.....Is the team learning lessons on how to babysit that switch at least? Hopefully it's something manageable with some extra attention.

[mykn]

Bad weather was sold as one of the strengths of rail and while it was up running before buses yesterday last night and today there is some sort of problem shutting down the streetcars....Not a good sell for expansion. What the hell is going on?

It's pretty bad when the Streetcar twitter account is "Don't worry, we've got busses running the streetcar route now". It's good that they are doing it, but it sure looks bad, "See busses are more versatile!"

[flyingember]

That was my fear.....Is the team learning lessons on how to babysit that switch at least? Hopefully it's something manageable with some extra attention.

These US switch issues are a failure of water management in the engineering of the track.

The storm drains aren't placed to catch water before hitting the switch, so water can flow into the channel the track forms and flow into the switch from two directions and it pools in the track the third

Here's a a view from the south showing water in the track. You can see how the drains are uphill from this spot
https://twitter.com/TaishaKMBC/status/7 ... 8885146625

The foreground hole here is the only drain to the north, but water is pooling past the drain. The drains in the other view are basically next to the closest OCS pole. It shows that water flows towards the switch to get to the closest drain.
https://twitter.com/search?f=images&ver ... r&src=typd

Once water hits the switch mechanisms the damage is done. You can argue this is a minor issue except this is the second multi-hour shutdown caused by this switch and weather in 8 months.

The fix luckily is doable as this road is a bridge, take out the street next to the track slab and add more drains

[smh]

The good news is when we redo this stretch for Phase II to make it center-running (as the gods intended for Phase I) we can eliminate the switch.

[DaveKCMO]

The good news is when we redo this stretch for Phase II to make it center-running (as the gods intended for Phase I) we can eliminate the switch.

absolutely.

[KCPowercat]

Do we have any way to get the contractor to improve this if it can be argued they didn't sufficiently engineer the switch and the surround environment?

[DaveKCMO]

Do we have any way to get the contractor to improve this if it can be argued they didn't sufficiently engineer the switch and the surround environment?

i am not qualified to answer that, nor is anyone else on this board.

[KCPowercat]

Understood.

[JBmidtown]

So, uh...when is this going to be on a ballot? I'm ready for rail closer to me.

[flyingember]

So, uh...when is this going to be on a ballot? I'm ready for rail closer to me.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bx1_a3 ... 9sZHc/view
election schedule

You request a ballot the month of April
You will get it early June
get it notarized and return it by mid July (notary or election officer signature required under 238.216.3)

if it passes

repeat the process
you request a ballot mid Oct to mid Nov
you get the ballot early Dec
get it notarized and return it by late Jan


if it passes and we find matching funding my rough guess has operations beginning 2021-2023. the federal funding climate, chances for lawsuits, a less interested council, a less interested governor all add up to places that could delay the process. The TDD election could be the easiest step in the process of expansion.

[JBmidtown]

if it passes and we find matching funding my rough guess has operations beginning 2021-2023. the federal funding climate, chances for lawsuits, a less interested council, a less interested governor all add up to places that could delay the process. The TDD election could be the easiest step in the process of expansion.

Could some of the matching funding come from the private sector (or, hell, local affluent patrons) if it looks like the state and federal government are going to be a roadblock? The extension is absolutely vital to maintaining the momentum of rebirth in this city. I imagine private interests see this and maybe they would provide more support beyond what is coming from the TDD.

[earthling]

Dave, at this point what would you set the % chances of real action to approval/funding of UMKC extension within the next year or 2?

[beautyfromashes]

^^ My guess is he'll say 90%. I'll guess 50/50.

[DaveKCMO]

Dave, at this point what would you set the % chances of real action to approval/funding of UMKC extension within the next year or 2?

local funding -- 90% (!)
federal funding -- 75%

we'll know the latter a bit better when the new president and/or new congress submits/approves a new budget, something they punted on for this year (a continuing resolution funds the government through april). there is some discussion on how closely the congress or administration will hew to the "heritage" budget blueprint, which recommends -- as did the GOP platform -- elimination of federal transit funding.