Advocacy Alerts

Click here to use MoBikeFed's 2-minute action form on this issue.

Background
Bridges across the Missouri and Kansas Rivers in the Kansas City area remain a major impediment to safe bicycle and pedestrian access in the region. Where a city like St. Louis has numerous Missouri and Mississippi River bridges that are accessible to bicyclists and pedestrians in various ways, the Kansas City area has not one single Missouri River crossing that is bicycle and pedestrian accessible.

Catalyzed by the upcoming construction of a new Paseo Bridge near downtown Kansas City, Missouri, bicycle and pedestrian advocacy groups, including the Kansas City Bicycle Club, the Johnson County Bicycle Club, the Greater Kansas City Bicycle Federation, the Missouri Bicycle Federation and others, successfully lobbied for consideration of bicycle and pedestrian accommodation on this new bridge.

In taking up this issue, the Mid-America Regional Council (MARC) decided that a region-wide policy for bicycle and pedestrian accommodation on major river bridges is needed. The KC River Crossings Task Force, with representatives of many area communities, bicycle and pedestrian advocacy groups, political leaders, the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT), and the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT).

Community leaders are unanimous in their support for the thrust of this policy, which requires bicycle and pedestrian accommodation on new bridges, except where the cost is prohibitive, the bridge is in a remote location, or bicyclists and pedestrians are prohibited from using a roadway (like an interstate freeway).

KDOT, however, has reservations. They are not sure the public supports bicycle and pedestrian accommodations. They are not sure the bicycle and pedestrian facilities will receive enough use to justify their cost.

They need to hear from many citizens, persuading them in a positive way, that bicycle and pedestrian accommodation on Kansas bridges is needed and will be used.

What you can do
Click here to use MoBikeFed's 2-minute action form.

Or, do it the old fashioned way:

Email these two KDOT representatives and ask them to support the new policy on bicycle and pedestrian access across river bridges in the Kansas City area:

Jerry Younger
District Engineer
KDOT District One
Jerome@ksdot.org

Debra L. Miller
Secretary of Transportation
dmiller@ksdot.org

permanent link to article: "2 FEB 2006: Ask KDOT to support bike/ped accommodation in Kansas City"
posted by Brent Hugh at 2/02/2006 11:48:00 PM |comment on this article