The item of interest to Raytown is #2 – a Rock Island alignment
Congressman Emanuel Cleaver, II is pleased to announce that the U.S. Department of Transportation has awarded the Mid-America Regional Council (MARC) a $1.8 million grant to study options for a combined commuter transit network in Jackson County and urban streetcar in downtown Kansas City.
“It was my pleasure to help secure these funds to further commuter rail in Jackson County. These federal dollars will help refine and advance plans that will someday help our residents move across the region in a more efficient, equitable and environmentally friendly way. I believe this is an excellent indication that the U.S. Department of Transportation and my friend Secretary Ray LaHood are interested in investing in Kansas City’s commuter rail transportation proposal,” said Congressman Cleaver.
The study — called an “alternatives analysis” — will help local officials select preferred service options based on the benefits, costs and impacts of investments that could address transportation needs in the following corridors:
1) an I-70 commuter alignment heading east from Union Station, running in a shared corridor, to approximately the I-70/I-435 interchange, where it then runs east along I-70 through the cities of Independence, Blue Springs, Grain Valley, Oak Grove and Odessa.
2) a Rock Island alignment southeast of downtown, generally along Missouri Route 350, and specifically along the former Rock Island railroad right of way (not currently in service) through the communities of Raytown, Lee’s Summit, Greenwood and Pleasant Hill.
3) a downtown Kansas City, Mo., circulator system connecting Crown Center and Union Station with the Crossroads District, downtown Kansas City, and the River Market area — representing the region’s most travelled and densely populated corridor.
Click HERE to read a Kansas City Star article on this topic.
NO, and hell no. Besides, why would anyone want to come through here anyway? We have no higher end shopping or restaurants and goodness knows we have no entertainment here. So our wonderful Congressman Cleaver is spending $1.8 million just on a study???? I’ve got news for you Cleaver, all you have to do is look at the bus service in KC and realize it’s failing, that’s all the study you need.