The Transportation, Infrastructure, and Operations (TIO) committee met yesterday (March 1) to discuss the Truman Road protected bike lanes and a proposed compromise. They unanimously approved a compromise that will remove the bike lane on the north side of Truman Road and will convert the south side bike lane into a two-way cycle track. The compromise now heads to the full City Council for approval. An enormous thank you to everyone who spoke up to preserve the project!
Following significant opposition to the original proposal to completely remove the protected bike lanes on Truman Road, the City Council explored a compromise. In a TIO meeting at the beginning of February 2023, Councilwoman Robinson proposed a compromise to address parking concerns while keeping some form of bike infrastructure in place.
In committee yesterday (March 1, 2023), Public Works staff presented more details on the proposed compromise. As the diagram below shows, the new configuration would be as follows:
- The bike lane on the north side of the street would be removed and converted to a dedicated parking lane.
- Two lanes of vehicular traffic and a two-way turning lane would remain in place.
- The bike lane on the south side of the street would be converted to a two-way cycle track.
The Truman compromise leaves a buffered parking lane on the north side of the street and provides a protected two-way cycle track on the south side of the street.
Staff also noted that there would be some spots where parking would be placed alongside the two-way cycle track to expand that option to both sides of the street. There will likely also be spots for loading zones for some of the industrial businesses or places which require commercial deliveries, as shown below:
This segment of Truman from Euclid to Brooklyn depicts "daylighted" driveways and intersections (where parking has been moved back to improve sightlines) and a bus stop on the north side.
This segment of Truman from Woodland to Euclid shows daylighted driveways and intersections, a bus stop, and parking protected two-way cycle track on the north side of the street.
Finally, staff noted the timeline and cost for these changes. They anticipate the project to be completed in 4-5 weeks from notice to proceed depending on the weather. The changes are expected to cost about $470,000.
This compromise wouldn’t have happened without everyday advocates like you. More than 120 people reached out to the mayor, the city manager, their councilmembers, and public works staff to express their opposition to the removal of the Truman Road protected bike lanes. Those efforts make this one of the largest advocacy responses on legislation BikeWalkKC has ever recorded!