On September 30th, the volunteer-based, tactical urban design group BetterBlockKC transformed a parking lane into what we’re calling a “Mobility Lane”. This mobility lane is a parking and cinder block protected two-way cycle track constructed for bicyclists, scooters, skateboards, and other forms of micro mobility transportation. BetterBlockKC did this by moving the existing parking lane…
There’s a lot of innovation and progressive policy to celebrate in Kansas City, but my favorite is the City’s commitment to open data. Its GIS data (available for download on the City’s online mapping under the “Download” tab) is particularly helpful to any planner or other civic nerd wanting to contribute to learn more about the…
Last week I put together a quick experiment in crowdsourcing recommendations for bike lanes. The website allows you to draw a line for a suggested bike lane, and the results tab creates a heatmap of the cumulative recommendation from all users. In the week since it has gone live, there have been over 800 new…
Penn Valley Park is not achieving its full potential today, but several specific improvements can enhance its use and better connect its neighbors. The following proposals represent a collaborative effort by designers/Downtown residents Arpit Balhara, Jihee Chung, Alyssa Parsons, and Thomas Morefield. Just a mile from the heart of Kansas City’s central business district, Penn…
“A Long Road for a Grand Boulevard – Part 2” illustrates how thoughtful design can improve Grand Boulevard for all users. This post highlights a few refinements of this concept from the cyclist perspective. I agree with the overall premise of protected bike lanes and the approach to phasing from paint to full infrastructure. After all, protected bike lanes…
The recent post on Grand Boulevard introduces a design concept that includes protected bike lanes. While Kansas City does not have any examples of protected bike lanes today, they are a commonly used and well-studied design approach. The silver lining to lagging behind other communities in bicycle infrastructure is that there are case studies from…
The first entry on this topic summarizes the design components and challenges for the various concepts being explored for Grand Boulevard. The following concept takes two sample blocks of Grand Boulevard to illustrate how thoughtful design can enhance the street in a way that meets the needs of all users, and also provides a clear…
Grand Boulevard has been getting a lot of attention recently, with a wide assortment of stakeholders recognizing the importance of improving the boulevard. The concepts proposed thus far have created a high expectations but a definite lack of clarity about the most desirable and feasible path forward. A design that integrates the right balance of…