Kansas City Main Street Extension streetcar route set to open soon

  Kansas City’s long-awaited streetcar extension project is set to be unveiled to the public on Friday, Oct. 24, allowing riders to now travel a total of 6 miles from the River Market to UMKC’s Volker campus.

  The added extension of the route has been in progress for three and a half years, costing $352 million. Once finished, the route will be able to accommodate 11 streetcars at once and will run every 10-12 minutes.

  Students will be able to opt for a new mode of transportation to campus, something that Tom Gerend, executive director of the Kansas City Streetcar Authority (KCSA), sees as a “new front door” for the university.

“We all know how challenging it can be to park on college campuses,” Gerend said. “Students and faculty, they won’t have to worry about that.” 

  Riders can continue to ride the KC Streetcar free of charge, which is something that project leaders kept in mind when discussing accessibility.

 “We want to lower all the barriers to entry,” Gerend said, “so when we think about access, we think about fare.”

  With the World Cup being hosted in KC this summer, there will be an influx of up to 650,000 people coming to the city, according to Donna Mandelbaum, communications and marketing director for the KCSA.

  Mandelbaum said that this number of visitors will require some added special bus services, as the 11 running streetcars will be able to hold 150-175 people each. 

  According to Mandelbaum, the streetcar will allow for new and old businesses to have a place to grow and for communities to have easier access to different parts of the city.

“We want to make sure that it is a welcome area for everybody and for those that are already existing there,” Mandelbaum said. “Hopefully, the streetcar is an attractive component to bring people down to Midtown and explore the heart of Kansas City.”

  This project has been in the works for years and has had a large community of support.

“We don’t always get these kinds of iconic projects in our hometown, so it’s great to be able to celebrate with you all,” said Jason Waldron, Kansas City Transportation Director. 

  There will be a special reveal to celebrate the opening of the streetcar on Oct. 24 at 10:30 a.m. at the UMKC streetcar stop and a community celebration from 5-9 p.m. at the UMKC recreation fields at 51st and Oak St.

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