Recent media reports have stated the plans for the new Kansas City Royals baseball stadium at Crown Center include removing bike lanes to create more car lanes for people driving to the stadium. We are getting a lot of questions from the community, so here is what we know…
We’ve seen two presentations where the team’s consultants have downplayed this concern, but have not definitively stated they won’t ask City Hall to remove bike lanes. We have also reached out directly to the Royals organization asking them to clarify their intentions and the language in their consultants’ recommendations, but have not received a reply yet.
Monday, July 27 Public Meeting
about the stadium development plan and rezoning
6:00 p.m. at Union Station
Regnier Extreme Screen Theater (lower level)
The transportation study by engineering firm Kimley-Horn predicts that one-third of Royals fans will get to the new stadium by transit, walking, or biking. However, they also recommend several infrastructure changes that would discourage walking and biking and encourage more driving:
- Removing the protected bike lane on 27th Street on Hospital Hill.
- “Reclaiming vehicular capacity” on several streets with bike lanes: Gillham Road, Oak Street, and Grand Boulevard.
- Removing the crosswalks on 22nd Street on Hospital Hill and erecting barriers to force pedestrians into tunnels and/or overpasses.
- Widening highway entrance and exit ramps to move more cars through neighborhoods that already have high rates of bike and pedestrian crashes.
Bike lanes (green) and crosswalks (yellow) mentioned in Royals stadium transportation plan.
What a visionary multimodal strategy could look like:
- Set an ambitious goal like 50% of fans arriving by transit, walking, or biking.
- Invest in upgrading bike lanes and crosswalks around the stadium, not removing them.
- Include a secure bike valet parking area inside the stadium, similar to other MLB stadiums like Minneapolis, San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago, and more.
- Incentivize fans to arrive by transit, walking, biking, and carpooling through strong marketing programs and promotions.
The Royals should borrow from The KC Current’s playbook. The Current already has more people biking to CPKC Stadium than many MLB stadiums, and many more fans walk or take the KC Streetcar to get to matches. We know that a Downtown baseball stadium can be successful with a visionary transportation strategy because the example has already been set.
What you can do
Show at the public meeting on Monday to ask questions and show the team and City Hall that the community does not want to lose bike lanes!
Monday, July 27 Public Meeting
about the stadium development plan and rezoning
6:00 p.m. at Union Station
Regnier Extreme Screen Theater (lower level)