Safer Streets Are Worth the Wait

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…

Getting Riverfront Rail Right

In October, the Kansas City Streetcar Authority, Port Authority, and KCATA issued a request for proposals to assess the feasibility of extending Kansas City’s streetcar to connect with Berkley Riverfront Park.  The move should not surprise anyone.  Kansas City’s streetcar has been wildly successful at overcoming precisely the two major challenges the riverfront faces. Kansas…

Public Transit – Hiding in Plain Sight

Readers: The following post is written by a new guest contributor who asked to remain anonymous.  If you are interested in reading more about this subject, or more from this author, please let us know! The undeniable connection between transportation mobility (or lack thereof) and poverty has been studied and confirmed over and over. From…

An Experiment in Crowdsourced Mapping

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…

Rosedale Bike Lanes

Rosedale Completes Its Streets

Over the past few years, a combination of infrastructure investments, new development, and entrepreneurial energy is revitalizing Rosedale and contributing to Kansas City’s urban renaissance. Since moving to the Rosedale over two years ago, I’ve witnessed a transformation that is quickly accelerating. This is the first post of a series highlighting the improvements as well as some…

Cyclist Perspective on Grand Boulevard Concept

“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…

A Long Road for a Grand Boulevard – Part 2

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…

A Long Road for a Grand Boulevard – Part 1

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…