11 replies to this topic

[KevinKorell]

E-mail from RideKC:
 

MEDIA ALERT

Donna Mandelbaum | dmandelbaum@kcstreetcar.org | 816.877.3219

 

 

KC STREETCAR MAIN STREET EXTENSION OFFICIALLY BREAKS GROUND

Groundbreaking and Rail Signing Ceremony Scheduled For Wednesday, April 6
 


(Kansas City, Missouri) – The time is finally here for the official construction of the KC Streetcar Main Street Extension. 

WHAT:  KC Streetcar Main Street Extension Groundbreaking Ceremony and Rail Signing Event

WHEN: 11 a.m. on Wednesday, April 6, 2022

WHERE: Southwest corner of Pershing Road and Main Street (across from Union Station). This is an outdoor public event. Transportation is available by KC Streetcar and RideKC bus. Paid parking is available in the Union Station parking garage. 

WHO:     Special guests include Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Administrator Nuria Fernandez, Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas, KC Streetcar Authority Executive Director Tom Gerend, UMKC Chancellor Dr. C. Mauli Agrawal, and Bruce Marinchek, Senior Vice President of National Construction for Herzog Transit. 

Other festivities include a ceremonial rail signing of Main Street Extension track and entertainment provided by the UMKC Conservatory. 

After years of planning, designing and community outreach, construction for this $351 million transportation project is ready to begin. The KC Streetcar Main Street Extension is a 3.5-mile extension of the KC Streetcar System that will connect the current southern terminus at Union Station to the University of Missouri – Kansas City at 51st Street and Brookside Boulevard. The extension is fully funded with federal Capital Investment Grant funds and new local funding approved through the Transportation Development District. 

The construction of the project is estimated to take two and a half years with passengers ready to ride in 2025. Construction is being led by the KC Streetcar Constructors, a joint venture between Herzog Contracting Corp. and Stacy and Witbeck, and supported by Burns & McDonnell and JE Dunn Construction. The project is overseen by the joint partnership of the City of Kansas City, Missouri (KCMO), the KC Streetcar Authority (KCSA) and the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority (KCATA). 

For more information about the KC Streetcar Main Street Extension construction, please visit www.buildkcstreetcar.com or email the KC Streetcar Constructors at info@buildkcstreetcar.com.  

For questions, contact Donna Mandelbaum with the KC Streetcar Authority at 816.877.3219 (cell) or email at dmandelbaum@kcstreetcar.org. The KC Streetcar is online at www.kcstreetcar.org and on Twitter (@kcstreetcar), Facebook (@kcstreetcar) and Instagram. 

 

[KevinKorell]

E-mail from RideKC, 4/6/22:

 

 

 

MEDIA ALERT

Donna Mandelbaum | dmandelbaum@kcstreetcar.org | 816.877.3219

 

$351M KC STREETCAR EXPANSION OFFICIALLY BREAKS GROUND

Federal Transit Administrator, Nuria Fernandez, Attends Milestone Groundbreaking Ceremony

(Kansas City, Missouri) – The time is finally here for the official construction of the KC Streetcar Main Street Extension to begin.

On Wednesday morning, as melodies hung in the air courtesy of a Jazz Ensemble from the University of Missouri – Kansas City (UMKC) Conservatory, Kansas City came out to mark a transportation and infrastructure milestone of giant proportions. Together with the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and Mayor Quinton Lucas, the City of Kansas City, MO, KC Streetcar Authority, the KC Area Transportation Authority, and the KC Streetcar Constructors, marked the start of track construction on the southwest corner of Pershing Road and Main Street, the northern end of the KC Streetcar Main Street Extension.  This is the start of the $351 million, 3.5-mile extension of the KC Streetcar system, which is estimated to take two and a half years to construct. 

Following a line-up of speakers that included Nuria Fernandez, FTA Administrator, Mayor Lucas and UMKC Chancellor Dr. C. Mauli Agrawal, dignitaries and guests were invited to sign a commemorative piece of track rail to mark this milestone. Representatives from the FTA’s Region 7 office, the midtown community, and construction industry were also in attendance. 

“Together, we are creating a positive impact on the everyday lives of people in this community by creating more mobility, reducing congestion and charting a course toward a cleaner future, with better air quality and healthier neighborhoods,” said FTA Administrator Nuria Fernandez. “These benefits are real, and they align with the Biden-Harris Administration’s values and priorities as we move toward energy independence.”

“I have met with Federal Transit Authority Administrator Fernandez in Washington, D.C. as part of Kansas City’s transit advocacy efforts, and am pleased to have her with us in Kansas City today for the Main Street Extension groundbreaking ceremony, as we celebrate putting the expansion project into full motion," said Mayor Quinton Lucas.“I will continue advocating—on a local, state, and federal level—for our community’s transportation and infrastructure priorities, as Kansas City continues its work to expand the Streetcar, to provide Zero Fare Transit to all bus riders, and to complete our new state-of-the-art airport terminal," continued Lucas. 

The Main Street Extension project is not only a game-changer for Kansas City’s public transit scene but also in the jobs it will create. More than 340 jobs will be created as a result of the construction of this project.  Once operational, the KC Streetcar system will be responsible for creating nearly 100 jobs in the sectors of transit operations, safety, and maintenance. 

“The KC Streetcar Main Street Extension project will connect our city’s largest employment centers and elevate the function of our system from a downtown circulator to the spine of an improved regional transit system,” said Tom Gerend, Executive Director, KC Streetcar Authority. “Transportation infrastructure has shaped Kansas City’s landscape for the last 100 years and this transit strategy is a generational investment that puts a stake in ground that says that Kansas City is the place for people, jobs, and economic opportunities,” Gerend continued. 

“The KC Streetcar has already been an incredible boon for downtown and now that economic development and growth is headed south all the way to UMKC,” said Fourth District at-Large Councilmember Katheryn Shields. “This is a great day for our fourth district residents, as well as all of Kansas City and I am happy to be a part of it.”

"We are excited to see the Kansas City Streetcar extend its services south by 3.5 miles! This historic and major infrastructure project has served millions of commuters and visitors in Kansas City with fare-free and convenient transportation. Connecting the downtown system to our residents and visitors of Midtown, Westport, the Art Museum District, the Plaza, and UMKC is a gamechanger for the 4th District to say the least. Thank you to the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority and the Kansas City Streetcar Authority for being our partners in this endeavor. Looking forward to proudly riding in 2025," said Fourth District Councilmember Eric Bunch. 

“Investing in public transportation is investing in mobility and opportunity for Kansas Citians—creating thousands of good-paying jobs along the way—and the extension of the KC Streetcar represents the next step in our vision to make all Kansas City public transportation free and available to all," said Mayor Quinton Lucas. 

The KC Streetcar Main Street Extension is a 3.5-mile extension of the KC Streetcar System that will connect the current southern terminus at Union Station to the University of Missouri – Kansas City at 51st Street and Brookside Boulevard. The extension is fully funded with federal Capital Investment Grant funds and new local funding approved through the voter approved Transportation Development District. 

The construction of the project is estimated to take two and a half years with passengers ready to ride in 2025. Construction is being led by the KC Streetcar Constructors, a joint venture between Herzog Contracting Corp. and Stacy and Witbeck, and supported by Burns & McDonnell and JE Dunn Construction. The project is overseen by the joint partnership of the City of Kansas City, Missouri (KCMO), the KC Streetcar Authority (KCSA) and the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority (KCATA). 

For more information about the KC Streetcar Main Street Extension construction, please visit www.buildkcstreetcar.com or email the KC Streetcar Constructors at info@buildkcstreetcar.com.  

For questions, contact Donna Mandelbaum with the KC Streetcar Authority at 816.877.3219 (cell) or email at dmandelbaum@kcstreetcar.org. The KC Streetcar is online at www.kcstreetcar.org and on Twitter (@kcstreetcar), Facebook (@kcstreetcar) and Instagram. 

 

[KevinKorell]

KSHB-TV, Channel 41 in Kansas City, MO, 4/6/22:

 

 

     UMKC ready to capitalize on KC Streetcar extension  

 

 

The University of Missouri - Kansas City will be a major beneficiary of the new KC Streetcar extension. It has the Roos hopping... with excitement.

 

Item

[KevinKorell]

Construction Review, 4/16/22:
 

 

    KC Streetcar Extension Project Breaks Ground in Kansas City, Missouri  

 
 
 
Construction on Main Street’s above-ground KC Streetcar extension project broke ground recently at Pershing Road, in Kansas City, Missouri. The KC Streetcar workers are now set to commence this phase of the development, with the underground utility work on Main street nearing completion.

 

 

Read

[CNJRoss]

KSHB-TV Kansas City, MO 5/19/22

 

KC Streetcar crews move 800-feet of rail into place on Main Street

 

 

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The work to expand the KC Streetcar continues as two 400-foot rails were moved onto Main Street on Thursday morning.

 

Crews worked early at 5 a.m. to "minimize traffic impacts." They pulled the total 800 feet of rail from the holding area onto Main Street from near Pershing Road.

 

 

 

Continue here with photo and video report.

[KevinKorell]

WDAF-TV, Fox-4 in Kansas City, MO, 10/10/22:
 

 

   KC Streetcar warns of possible traffic delays during extension project     

 

 

There will be some heavy metal moving around downtown Tuesday morning, and it could impact the drive to work for some in Midtown.

 

News

[KevinKorell]

WDAF-TV, Fox-4 in Kansas City, MO, 1/30/23:
 

 

   Kansas City Streetcar extension sees more progress south  

 

 

The Kansas City streetcar’s 3.5-mile southern extension to the Country Club Plaza and University of Missouri-Kansas City has started to heat up, with multiple milestones on the horizon in the year ahead.

 

Read

[KevinKorell]

KMBC-TV, 9-ABC in Kansas City, MO, 5/22/23:

 

 

     Local businesses adjusting as construction begins for KC Streetcar extension on Westport Road, Main Street  

 

 

Construction work began Monday on the KC Streetcar extension project at the corner of Main Street and Westport Road.

 

 

Here is that story.

[KevinKorell]

WDAF-TV, Fox-4 in Kansas City, MO, 5/30/23:
 

 

KC Streetcar project plans 24-hour work to reach milestone      

 

 

Old will meet new as crews working on the KC Streetcar Main Street Extension reach a milestone.

 

Details

[KevinKorell]

WDAF-TV,  Fox-4 in Kansas City, MO, 7/12/23:
 

 

     City leaders have new plan for Kansas City streetcar on Main Street  

 

 

Imagine one lane just for the streetcar. Two Kansas City leaders want to keep the streetcar lanes that are under construction on Main Street from 27th Street and on as transit exclusive.

 

Entire story