Kansas City Patently Waits For Toy Train Streetcar Extension

A cowtown transit progress report reveals a half-year long wait ahead with very little excitement for a line that is no longer backed by very much federal support.

Here's the word . . .

Final infrastructure touches include landscaping, new curbs and sidewalks, and a pedestrian plaza at the last stop at UMKC. The majority of those projects are expected to be completed by the end of 2024.

The line needs to be safety tested and then will undergo a federal safety certification, which takes approximately six months if no issues are found. The KC Streetcar Authority will be hiring and training 65 people to operate and maintain the streetcars.

“We got a team hard at work, but we got a lot of boxes to check and we want to make sure once we do it, that we do it right,” said KC Streetcar Authority executive director Tom Gerend. “That it's safe to ride, that it's secure.”

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .

Kansas City finished laying streetcar expansion track, but it's still months from opening

With all the track for the KC Streetcar expansion to UMKC now installed, Mayor Quinton Lucas said the project is about 93% done. What's left though is months of testing before it can open next summer.