http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kcur/local-kcur-900514.mp3
Kansas City, Mo. – The Kansas City city has tentatively agreed to support Jackson County Executive Mike Sanders' transit plan.
Sanders and TranSystems consultant Jim Terry told the council Thursday that by using existing and abandoned rail routes, the tri-county Missouri side of the metro area can have a 134-mile rail-based transit system for about a billion dollars - 8 million a mile.
The system could be expanded to include Johnson and Wyandotte Counties, and would be based on a Union Station hub.
Sanders sold heavily on that point.
"To channel 20 to 30 thousand people a day right through downtown and right through Union Station - it's going to make sense to everybody here, and frankly make sense to everybody in the greater Kansas City area," he said.
The council agreed that it will introduce a resolution endorsing the plan to help Sanders in phase one - applying for $4.5 million in federal dollars for an alternatives analysis on the plan.
As the council prepares to support Sanders' tri-county transit plan, activist Clay Chastain launches his latest petition drive for his transit plan.
The Chastain proposal this time would run light rail from the Plaza area to the airport and feature a streetcar line along Prospect.
Chastain will be collecting petition signatures Saturday at Union Station from nine to three. He says,"We've had people complaining in the past that they could not find us when they wanted to sign this petition - they didn't know what grocery stores we were at - so we're putting aside a day and giving the people an opportunity to support this initiative."
Though a much shorter route than Sanders' plan, Chastain's would cost as much - possibly fifty percent more.