Update: The Public Works Department will give the City Council a presentation on the status of plans for bike/ped on the new bridge.  Read more.

Background
The Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) is replacing the Paseo Bridge, which carries I-29 and I-35 over the Missouri River. After much lobbying by citizens and advocacy groups, MoDOT agreed to include room for a bicycle and pedestrian path on the new bridge.

However, they will not build the bike/ped path until local governments come up with money to design and build ramps up to the bridge. MoDOT refuses to spend money from the Paseo project, or any other state money, on the bike/ped facility.

What is happening now

KCMO Public Works engineers and staff currently working on the technical plans for the facility and trying to determine if there is still time to build the bike/ped path when the new bridge is built. City and MoDOT staff estimate that it will cost about $3 million to build the necessary ramps. On March 3, 2008 the City of Kansas City, MO submitted an application for $500,000 in Federal CMAQ money.  Assuming the grant application is successful, another $2.5 million is still needed. City staff is still pursuing possible funding sources.  On March 6th the Missouri delegation to the National Bike Summit discussed the issue with Senator Bond and staff for Senator McCaskill, Congressman Cleaver, and Congressman Graves.

What you can do

1. Contact state legislators and tell them you want the state to resolve this situation. The bridge corridor passes through the districts of Senator Luann Ridgeway, Senator Jolie Justus, Representative Trent Skaggs, and Representative John Burnett.
2. Contact City and County elected officials. Demand that they lobby MoDOT and the state government, in addition to allocating local funds for this project. Here is contact information for the KCMO City Council, NKC City Council, Clay County Commission, and Jackson County Legislature.
3. Contact Congress: Senator Kit Bond, Senator Claire McCaskill, Represtantive Sam Graves, and Representative Emanuel Cleaver.

Further Reading

• Paseo Bridge project web site
• Draft Environmental Impact Statement
• Missouri Bicycle Federation Fact Sheet

Why
Today there are no safe places to cross the Missouri River, creating a huge barrier to cyclists and pedestrians. A small investment in the much larger bridge project would provide an immeasurable return in terms of connectivity, commuting, tourism, recreation, etc.

The Possibility
Cities and states all over the world build exactly this type of facility all the time, many designed and/or built by KC-based architecture and engineering companies. We have the expertise to do it. MoDOT continues to fall back on the argument that bikes are illegal on Interstate freeways, but any thinking person can understand that we are talking about a separate path. Bikes would not be in the traffic lanes, and there are dozens of examples of this setup.

A Paseo bikeway would be a key link between the growing population of the Northland and the jobs in our revitalized Downtown. It’s also a crucial missing piece of the MetroGreen plan to create greenways and bike trails throughout the metro area. Without a bridge across the river, we have two separated trail systems instead of one integrated system.

Paseo Timeline

April 2006
Mid-America Regional Council adopts a metro-wide River Crossing Policy (PDF) to guide decision-making about the inclusion of bicycle/pedestrian facilities on bridges over the Missouri and Kansas Rivers. The new Paseo Bridge clearly meets the policy’s criteria for bike/ped.

May, 2006
Kansas City, MO City Council and Mayor Kay Barnes unanimously approved Resolution 060564, which was sponsored by Councilman John Fairfield established the city’s official position in support of bike/ped on the bridge.

October 2006
The Mid-America Regional Council Board of Directors voted to recommend MoDOT include bike/ped on the Paseo Bridge.

MoDOT releases a study of several potential Missouri River crossings and finds no significant safety or engineer problems with the Paseo corridor option.

December 2006
The North Kansas City Council went in the opposite direction of KCMO by opposing bike/ped on the bridge.  Mayor Gene Bruns cast the tie-breaking vote.

October 2007
The Kansas City, MO City Council and Mayor Mark Funkhouser re-iterated the city’s position insupport of bike/ped on the bridge by unanimously approving Resoultion 071092, sponsored by Councilmember Russ Johnson.