CELEBRATE!!! EMPTY KANSAS CITY STREETCAR SNAGS 50 MILLION BUCKS!!!



The pandemic has DEVASTATED public transit in Kansas City and across the nation but there's cause for local celebration as this town's signature transit project now earns precious federal cash.

Whilst skeptics worried about connecting more people to the Plaza . . . Recent riots closed down a great many shops so there's not much to protect and additional foot traffic might be appreciated.

Meanwhile, it's important to note that this is just A PORTION of the funding required for the extension and far less than what locals asked for . . . Still, amid economic harsh times, the boost to Midtown might be appreciated despite the problems inherent in this project.

KSHB: KC Streetcar extension receives $50M in federal funding

KMBC: KC Streetcar Authority gets federal funding for Main Street Extension this year

In fairness, here's a comprehensive view of the how the streetcar views the cash victory . . .

The KC Streetcar Main Street Extension Receives Federal Funding

(KansasCity, Missouri) - The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announced this morning that the KC Streetcar Main Street Extension project will receive federal funding as part of the FTA’s New Starts Capital Investment Grants (CIG) Program, making this project a reality for Kansas City.

As part of the CIG program, the FTA is allocating $50.8 million in fiscal year 2020 federal funds to the KC Streetcar Main Street Extension project. This federal funding will allow the project team to advance final design and enter into the construction phase for this unprecedented project. The KC Streetcar project team anticipates receiving $174 million in federal funding in order to complete the construction of the project. The New Starts CIG program allocates federal funding to large projects across multiple fiscal years.

“The significance of today’s federal funding announcement for the KC Streetcar cannot be overstated,” said Tom Gerend, executive director of the KC Streetcar Authority. “This federal funding will allow our team to advance final design and move into long-awaited construction, realizing a transit vision for Kansas City that has been decades in the making. Thanks to amazing support from the Federal Transit Administration, our project partners at RideKC and Kansas City, Missouri, and our extremely supportive congressional delegation, the KC Streetcar Main Street Extension Project is a go. It’s a great day for Kansas City.”

“This significant federal grant award helps ensure this key transit project will be completed on schedule—providing thousands of good jobs to Kansas Citians along the way,” said Mayor Quinton Lucas. “Since becoming mayor, I have met with administration leaders in Washington and Kansas City to advocate for our community’s transportation and infrastructure priorities, and I appreciate Washington’s recognition of our city’s growth and development needs. I thank our Congressional delegation, the KC Streetcar Authority, Ride KC, and our taxpayers for their support to increase mobility and transit options for Kansas Citians. Along with Zero-Fare Transit passed in the spring, this shows once again Kansas City’s commitment to mobility for all.”

Earlier this year, the project received official notice from the FTA that the Main Street Extension project was approved to enter the New Starts Engineering phase of the FTA CIG program. This approval allowed the project to move into the final phase of the competitive federal program and positioned it to receive federal grant funds like it did today.

The CIG program funds transit capital investments including heavy rail, commuter rail, light rail, streetcars, and bus rapid transit systems. The KC Streetcar Main Street Extension is estimated to cost $351 million. The project team is seeking $174 million in federal funding to be combined with local funding from the voter-approved Transportation Development District.

“This financial investment by the federal government reflects the credibility of the entire RideKC regional network. The KC Streetcar Main Street Extension will be a catalyst to bringing equity in transit and spurring development, especially in a post-pandemic environment,” said Robbie Makinen, KCATA president and CEO. “

“With the overwhelming community support for the KC Streetcar Main Street Extension and the proven economic impact of the project, we were confident that the FTA would provide the necessary funding to make this extension to UMKC a reality,” said Jan Marcason, Chair of the Main Street Extension Transportation Development District.

The project’s recent progress is the result of years of work from the KC Streetcar Main Street Extension project partnership, which includes the KC Streetcar Authority, the City of Kansas City, MO, and the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority. Work completed to date includes project development, identification of track and station stop locations, coordination of utility relocation, including water and sewer lines, solicitation of proposals for streetcar vehicle procurement, construction general management, and public outreach.

The KC Streetcar Main Street Extension project is currently in the design phase. This fall, the City’s Water Department will start construction on the necessary water and sewer upgrades, completing the much-needed repairs to Kansas City’s aging infrastructure. Updates on water and sewer work may be found on here, www.kcwater.us/upgradesonmain.

Current schedules estimate KC Streetcar construction beginning in late 2021 or early 2022, and the opening of the KC Streetcar Main Street Extension system in 2025. Project information including proposed streetcar stop locations, track alignment, and renderings of streetcars traveling through midtown, may be found on the KC Streetcar website, www.kcstreetcar.org/mainstreet-extension.
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Developing . . .

Comments


  1. Masks still required.

    Especially if Trump wins.

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    Replies
    1. Don't really see much reason to celebrate here. It's a project that KC actively voted against. They passed it without going to the public and now are going to shut down main street for years. Dumb post title, this is horrible for KC.

      Delete
    2. ^^^

      Never turn down free money, dipstick!

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    3. That's a good point, 10:06, as the Dems will definitely continue to inflate panic and hysteria.

      Delete

  2. But who is going to come into the city? The mayor has let rioters take over and even kneels to them. What person in their right mind is going to support the businesses not knowing what will set the unstable BLM or ANTIFA pro fascists monsters off? So will the street car sit there empty not due to the virus but due to the violence. You know the mayor won't help you.
    I would like to know what jobs Quinton Lucas is talking about. His statement doesn't make any sense. It might increase mobility but it doesn't create jobs. This guy is really out of his mind.

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  3. any federal checks are a win, I suppose.

    many of us called this wrong, that the federal money was drying up for ridiculous vanity nostalgia projects like $102 million for 2 miles of streetcar rail

    pandemic has been firehose of federal money doused at state and counties

    once one-time federal checkz dry up, i.e. after election, then what ???

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  4. Stay in your basement fucking losers. I swear to God, if you fucking old codgers didn't just piss and moan all day, every fucking day, you wouldn't have any fucking purpose at all in life.

    Do us all a favor, if it's just soooooooooooooo fucking bad in KC, move or suck a fucking pistol.

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    Replies
    1. Beats being a vanity faggot like you who digs fountains and sucks cock

      Delete
  5. ^^ Stay classy with your vocab. Try to get the f-word in more often.

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  6. 11:04 Stay classy with your vocab. Try to get the f-word in more often.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Pop the corks and drink to even higher federal debt.

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  8. Grip you stupid house negro, shine my shoes! get to steppin' Sambo!

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  9. Incredible waste of $50 mil of taxpayer dollars. The toy choo choo is an embarrassing joke.

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    Replies
    1. Where better to waste it?

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  10. Fuck you (11:12) you fucking fuck (11:12).

    ReplyDelete
  11. Bandit likes to project.

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  12. But we "Old Codgers" don't care!

    We'll be gone, and the deficit spending will fall on your asses like an avalanche, burying you in Federal Debt until you simply don't pay it!

    And then the "country" (the 1% that owns the Country) collapses, the Republican Party's Lords and Masters flee, the GOP disappears, and from the ashes a new humane Populist Country will arise, with a new clean form of government, that concerns itself with the people of the USA, and not with the Wealthy!

    I won't see it, but if you're under forty you'll get to enjoy it.
    Now watch the "Guardians of a Yesterday that never Existed" howl and whine about the inevitable!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anticipates and getting are two different things. This is a lot of money being spent that serves so few when that same amount of money could be put to work fixing so many other things wrong in KC.

    Mass transit like this failed in the whole KC Metro area once and in time this to will fail and be abandoned.

    Police Officers still have no body cams but the city gets all giggity over a multi million dollar amusement ride.

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  14. ^^shut up retard. You don't live here so nobody wants to hear what a retarded mouth-breather like you thinks about anything. OK Boomer?

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  15. 11:34 Let it all out. Get rid of your demons, my friend! Of which there are many. Not easy being hit in the head a lot as a child and then having a normal brain, but you're showing great promise!

    ReplyDelete
  16. 11:43 Dave makes sense while you're the one who acts like a retard.

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  17. And the City screwed a very small number of its citizens with a Property tax increase for the tax district they created with a fake vote. Basically, I will be paying close to $1,000 per year so that tourists and other folks can ride the toy train free. This type of taxation is making me seriously consider the idea of continuing to live in this city.

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  18. Yeah, slick how they rigged it to pass huh 12:05? If it had been a citywide vote it would have been soundly defeated again. That same group are the one who should pay for the subsidy to keep the toy choo choo on the track.

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  19. It was a terrible voting process that sticks a few with the burdon of property tax to pay for the toy train. Can't seem to get decent sidewalks and roads, but we've got a very pricey free ride for the tourist. Great progress.

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  20. Pendergast would be proud.

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  21. Water main breaks, potholes, rampant crime, crap schools, etc., but dumping hundreds of millions of dollars into a folly trolley that moves at a snail’s pace, is sometimes stalled by the weather and is used primarily as a free joyride for visitors. It would be funny if it weren’t so tragic.

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  22. But it's a really neat toy choo choo! 🤣

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  23. A train between burned out and abandoned neighborhoods carrying nothing but vagrants and thugs. Why wouldn’t the Feds finance it?

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  24. Doesn’t matter what they got that 50 mil for, mayor mckneely and the clowncil would’ve given it to a developer, either way, it wouldn’t be spent on the real things the city has needed in some cases for decades now, infrastructure being the main thing.

    Funny how every penny in tax money goes to downtown and no where else.

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  25. Train should provide hand jobs to boosts rider numbers.

    ReplyDelete

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