The streetcar is an opportunity to improve the Trolley Track Trail and perserve it for future generations.
Image of streetcar and Trolley Track Trail along Brookside Boulevard, via Next Rail KC.
In the 1980s the old Country Club streetcar right of way was preserved for future transit use and became the Henry Wiggins Trolley Track Trail. The trail is now a popular asset for recreation, fitness, and transportation.
This corridor has plenty of room to implement “Rail-With-Trail”. Streetcars and trails co-exist side-by-side in many cities around the world. Returning streetcars to the Country Club Right of Way is a once in a lifetime opportunity to make the Trolley Track Trail safer, more accessible, and better suited for transportation.
The Mayor, City Council, and KC Area Transportation Authority have all publicly committed to keeping the trail when streetcars are added to the Country Club Right of Way.
Several trail improvements can be incorporated into the streetcar construction process:
- Paved trail surface that is usable year-round, especially for transportation
- Wider trail to better accommodate all users, improve safety, and reduce trail congestion
- Complete missing links and dangerous connections through the Brookside and Waldo parking lots
- Improve safety of street crossings with raised crosswalks
- Use a grassy track bed to preserve green space and reduce storm water runoff and trail erosion
- Adjacent aggregate-surface running path
- Study separation of bikes and pedestrians with parallel paths
- Wayfinding signage pointing to destinations and services along the trail
- Re-open the closed section of trail east of Troost Ave.
- Connection to the Indian Creek Trail, providing better bike access to the Johnson County Trail system and employment centers along College Boulevard and 119th Street
- Better connection to the Brush Creek Trail, including access to the Country Club Plaza, Brush Creek Community Center, Shops at Blue Parkway, and East Side neighborhoods.
Maintaining the trail in the future
The KCATA currently funds trail maintenance with revenue from the parking lots in the Country Club Right of Way. This revenue source is not adequate for all of the trail's maintenance needs. The streetcar funding mechanism can provide sufficient long term maintenance of the trail, preserving it for future generations.
Mayoral Advisory Committee
Mayor Sly James has appointed an advisory committee of residents, and other stakeholders intersted in the Country Club Right of Way. BikeWalkKC Executive Director Eric Rogers is a member of the committee and represents Trolley Track Trail users.
Similar examples in other cities:
Salt Lake City Sugar House Streetcar Line: Grassy track bed, trail, and adjacent residential development.
Minneapolis Midtown Greenway: Trail with separate places for bikes and pedestrians, fencing, and grassy track beds.
Minneapolis Midtown Greenway:
Barcelona tram: Grassy rail bed, adjacent walking path, dense vegetation, residential development.
