Streetcars and Bikes

The streetcar starter line is moving full speed ahead towards a 2015 debut Downtown, and the city is already studying future extensions. While the streetcar will be a huge boost for improving walking, transit and all multimodal travel, there are some important issues for the interaction of bicycles and streetcars.

BikeWalkKC has developed this FAQ to provide more information and answer many of the questions we get from concerned bicyclists.

Are streetcar rails dangerous for bikes?


Photo by BikeWalkKC

Streetcar rails do pose an extra hazard for bikes. They are similar to train tracks, but run along the street instead of crossing it. Bikes and streetcars co-exist safely in many cities around the world – including Portland, Seattle, and Tacoma. Other cities with streetcars in progress include Atlanta, Cincinnati, Tuscan, and Dallas.

If you are riding alongside the tracks and cross over them, your tires can get stuck on the grooves between the tracks. The safest way to cross streetcar (or train) tracks is as close as possible to a 90 degree angle. The City has chosen a type of rail that is less hazardous for bikes than others, known as the “block rail”.

The City is also focusing on two specific areas to minimize conflicts between bikes and rails. A small section of the streetcar route runs on 3rd Street in the River Market, which is a designated bike route. Bike lanes will be added to provide separation between bikes and streetcars. At 11th and Main, a “bike box” will be used to put bikes in front of the stop light and give cyclists an opportunity to get into a safe position to make the “jog” in 11th Street at Main.

Safety education and awareness
Some cities invest in public awareness campaigns to educate people on bikes about how to safely move around a city with streetcar rails. We have raised this issue with the City and streetcar officials, encouraging them to budget for an education program by the time streetcar rails are installed. At this time nothing is planned, but we continue to push for it.

I like biking in the MAX bus lanes on Main Street, where will I bike now?

The bus-only lanes are a popular unofficial bike route that will be lost when the streetcar comes to Main Street. The City is planning to put bike lanes on Grand Boulevard in 2014, from the River Market to Crown Center, perhaps even buffered bike lanes separated from traffic by the parking lane.

How will I cross the railroad trench?


Flickr photo by Jym Dyer
"Green Lane" Cycletracks adjacent to streetcar rails.

Main Street is one of the most popular places for bikes to cross the big railroad trench between Crown Center and the Crossroads. With only half of Downtown’s north/south grid going across trench, people on bikes have limited options. The new bike lanes coming to Grand Boulevard will be one of the best alternatives. Unfortunately, bus traffic is expected to increase on Grand when the MAX and other bus routes are moved off of Main Street.

Will I be able to take my bike on the streetcar?

The City has indicated that whatever vehicle is chosen will allow bikes to be rolled on board. We do not yet know if that means the vehicle will have hooks to secure bikes like some other cities use.

We don’t anticipate a lot of bikes on board the starter line, as it will be faster for most people to bike. However, this will be an important feature when the streetcar is expanded to neighborhoods further from Downtown.

Will there be bike parking at the streetcar stops?

The City has indicated that most streetcar stops will have bike racks in compliance with the City’s bike parking standards. Due to space constraints, there may be a few stops without room for bike racks, but there are already several new bike racks across the Greater Downtown area.

At this time the City is not planning to include bike lockers on the starter line. However, we have raised the issue for consideration in future extensions. Eventually cyclists could bike to the end of a streetcar line, park their bike in a secure locker, and ride the streetcar into Downtown.

Will there be bike share stations at the Streetcar stops?

Bike share and transit are great combination, extending the reach of each other to make both systems more useful. In fact, 27% of Kansas City B-cycle users are regular transit users, and 20% of them have a monthly transit pass.

The streetcar stop locations were not known when BikeWalkKC planned Kansas City B-cycle, but we do have three B-stations along the streetcar route: 3rd and Grand, Union Station, and the 10th and Main MetroCenter. Another five B-stations are within two blocks of the route.

We would love to have bike share more tightly integrated with the streetcar. At this time we have no funding to add new stations along the streetcar route, or to relocate existing B-stations onto Main Street. In addition, the sidewalks on Main Street are fairly narrow compared to other streets Downtown. In some places like the Power and Light District, street furniture, planters, and tree wells take up a lot of space.

If funding from the City or other sources became available, we would love to study options for new B-stations. Incorporating bike share into transit planning and even transit funding is an emerging trend that we are discussing with City officials.

What future streetcar lines on the City’s bike routes?

Five of the eight corridors being studied for future streetcar lines overlap with the Bike KC master plan:

  1. West 12th Street

  2. East 12th Street

  3. Southwest Boulevard

  4. Independence Avenue

  5. Heart of America Bridge

BikeWalkKC has raised these issues with the City and is following the process very closely. If the streetcar is extended onto these or any other bike routes, we will urge officials use streetcar construction as an opportunity to incorporate high quality bike infrastructure  that separates bikes from cars and streetcars. Known as cycletracks or green lanes, they are a rapidly emerging innovation to improve safety and encourage significant increases in bicycling.

Streetcars on bike routes are an area where it is especially important for transit planners and City Councilmembers hear from the community and from voters. The two can coexist very well together, but it takes a strong commitment from government leadership and transportation engineers.

An important issue for the Main Street extension will be creating an alternative bike route for the many cyclists who use the Main Street MAX bus lanes. BikeWalkKC, the Sierra Club, and other partners have made several requests for the City to create a striped bike lane corridor from Downtown to the Plaza. The bike lanes planned for Grand Boulevard in 2014 are important first phase, but so far the City has no plan for extending that route further south.

Is the streetcar going to take over the bike/ped path on the Heart of America Bridge?

Maybe, but that could be a good thing! The Heart of America Bridge is one of the options being studied for the streetcar extension across the Missouri River. If that bridge is chosen, there are two options for maintaining the region's first bike/ped path over the river:

  1. Build a new path attached to the side of the bridge. MoDOT recently did this in Jefferson City to connect the state capital with the Katy Trail.
  2. Build a new bridge just for biking and walking. Omaha's Bob Kerry Bridge was the first dedicated bike/ped bridge over the Missouri River, and it is a fabulous facility.

Either way, the City is committed to maintaining a bike/ped river crossing. And the federal funds used to retrofit the HOA Bridge require it! Anyone who uses the current path knows that the retrofit drainage system isn't ideal. Glass, sand, and other debris easily washes from the roadway and collects on the path. A new facility would be designed from scratch to avoid this problem.