Cleaver Boulevard Complete Streets

What: A multimodal counts and community survey
When: 2024
Team: BikeWalkKC, KCMO
Client/Funding: Kansas City Physical Activity Plan

Thanks to funding mechanisms made possible by the Kansas City Physical Activity Plan, BikeWalkKC was able to conduct multimodal counts along Cleaver Blvd. to understand the impact of the new bike and pedestrian infrastructure. Thanks to foresight from staff at City Hall, these multimodal counts were compared to counts conducted before the new infrastructure was installed, giving us a first hand look at how infrastructure influences bike and pedestrian usage. The improvements on Cleaver Blvd. are part of KCMO’s Vision Zero efforts - to eliminate traffic fatalities and serious injuries on our streets by 2030, while increasing safe, healthy, equitable mobility for everyone. 

What we discovered was truly remarkable: bike and pedestrian counts more than doubled after the new bike and pedestrian infrastructure was installed! 

While the numbers tell an amazing story, we also wanted to know the mushy gushy side of these improvements. Namely, how do these protected bike lanes and mid-block crossings make people feel? With two shifts of wonderfully enthusiastic volunteers, we spent time out on Cleaver Blvd. conducting in-the-moment surveys, as well as handing out QR codes for people to take the survey later. The survey - which almost 200 people took - told us that people DO feel safer with the new infrastructure!

We were also curious how people would be commuting on Cleaver Blvd. if they weren’t biking. Sixty percent (60%) of surveyed people said they would be driving a car instead. That’s a lot of saved emissions! 

Whether from the numbers or the people themselves, what we hear loud and clear is the new bike and pedestrian infrastructure made more people feel safer and more comfortable riding or walking. If you would like to review the final presentation, you can find it by clicking this link.