The Star's Brad Cooper has another article on MoDOT's resistance to bicycle and pedestrian accommodations on the new Paseo Bridge. In it, MoDOT tosses out their usual red herrings of cost, safety, and connectivity.

Meanwhile, two developements have occurred this summer. First, MoDOT has announced a study of all bike/ped bridge options near Downtown - including the Paseo, Heart of America, ASB, and a stand-alone bridge. If one is found to be feasible and affordable they have committed to paying for it out of the Paseo budget.

Second, the Downtown Council, Regional Transit Alliance, and others have hired a consultant to study MoDOT's environmental study on the Paseo Bridge. That consultant found several major flaws that could set the stage for a lawsuit if MoDOT does not change course.

Posted on Sun, Aug. 27, 2006

Crossing into the future?

Many want the new Paseo Bridge to have a separate lane for bicycles, pedestrians.

By BRAD COOPER
The Kansas City Star

The new Paseo Bridge is planned to last into the next century. But local critics say it’s being planned with the last century in mind.

With gas prices soaring and global warming in the headlines, cyclists and other civic interests say the new Missouri River crossing should be about more than just the car.

They have flooded the Missouri highway department with hundreds of letters pleading for a separate lane for bikes and pedestrians on the Paseo Bridge, which could be replaced with twin bridges or a single structure.

“It’s clear that the lifestyle we’ve lived up to this point as a country can’t continue in the same direction,” said Sarah Gibson, a cycling enthusiast. “I don’t know that 25 years from now we’re going to want more cars.”

Also calling for a bike lane are the Kansas City Council, the Port Authority of Kansas City and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The Paseo Bridge is part of a $255 million plan to widen Interstate 29/35 from three lanes to four lanes in each direction from about Armour Road/Missouri 210 in the Northland to the northeast corner of the downtown freeway loop.

The Missouri Department of Transportation won’t commit to a lane for bikes and pedestrians on the new bridge. The department has recommended the Heart of America Bridge as an option but has not made a final decision.

Meanwhile, the state is spending $97,000 to study whether bike lanes could be added to the Heart of America or ASB railroad bridge and how much it would cost. A stand-alone bridge for bikes and pedestrians also is a possibility. Results are expected in October.

Because a new river crossing is built in Kansas City every 25 years or so, cyclists and others see the new Paseo Bridge as a rare opportunity that shouldn’t be missed. “There is no way for bicycles and pedestrians to safely get across the Missouri River in our area,” said Brent Hugh of Raytown, executive director of the Missouri Bicycle Federation.

“It’s hard to think of another metro area that is as divided as ours is and doesn’t have some way for bicycles and pedestrians to get across.”

But MoDOT engineers say Paseo cyclists could be at risk from loose debris and vehicles traveling at high speeds.

They also say building a safe and accessible bike lane across the Paseo could be expensive.

They have questioned where walkers or bikers would be coming from or going to on the bridge, which serves some industrial areas.

Lee Ann Kell, a planning manager for MoDOT, said the project could be more expensive if the highway department had to buy more land on either side of the bridge to make sure the lane is sufficiently separated from the interstate.

Since there’s about a 40- or 50-foot drop from the bridge to the ground, another option might be to build spiral ramps like those at Arrowhead or Kauffman stadiums to get on and off the bridge, Kell said.

Cyclists note that a trail and street system exists on the south side of the bridge, and they think demand for a bike lane will rise because a trail is planned eventually on the north side.

They also maintain that the bridge, which will be designed to last 100 years, needs to accommodate different forms of transportation, especially with gas prices near $3 a gallon. They sarcastically point out that the “T” in MoDOT stands for transportation, not cars.

“Everything is costing more and more, so being able to drive an automobile is becoming less and less of an option for people all the time,” said Gibson, the owner of Acme Bicycle Co. downtown.

Right now, cyclists say, many Missouri River crossings are risky, with narrow lanes or speeding cars that will buzz a biker every now and then.

“I’ve been riding for 20 years and I’m scared to death,” said Kenneth Walker, an avid cyclist who says the bridges should be left to only experienced bikers.

“Motorists don’t believe that you belong on those bridges so they’re not willing to make any concessions for you. … Cars come close all the time. They don’t want to scoot over.”

The Northland Regional Chamber of Commerce has endorsed putting a bike and pedestrian lane on the Heart of America Bridge. It fears a lane on the Paseo would be too costly and divert money from other critical road projects.

“In the perfect world, we would like to have it all,” said Sheila Tracy, the chamber’s executive director. “If we have to find $10 million more to put there, how does it affect all the other projects and needs that we have in the Northland to move traffic?”