Advocacy Alerts

[UPDATE 3 Nov 2004: Several advocates from the Johnson County Bicycle Club and the Greater Kansas City Bicycle Federation attended the Olathe City Council meeting and the Enhancements recommendations including the project with bike lanes for the Lone Elm Interchange was passed without incident. Now there is more work to be done; see the current Advocacy Alert for details.]

From the Johnson County Bicycle Club, regarding the Lone Elm Interchange in Olathe, KS:

It would be good to have a supporters for Lone Elm Road Bicycle Lanes in the audience again at the Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2004, 7:00 PM Olathe Council meeting to make sure Council stays true to their stated intention in the face of a group of respectful, genuine citizens.

Why? At least one Council member indicated a concern if Olathe submits a third project that essentially competes with its other two projects for the limited Enhancement Funding, it may jeopardize one or both of those project successes. This is a very legitimate concern as the pot of federal funds is limited. Typically twice as much Enhancement funding is requested as is available in KS. We need a presence to stand behind the request in case it's merits are discussed again.

Background: Council's greatest concern is receiving funding on the Santa Fe Streetscape project, an even more time sensitive project. It is currently in final design and planned for construction in Summer 2005, but would be delayed 6 months to coincide with the 2006 federal fiscal year, if it is awarded funding. The other project, Westview Trail, is a stand alone project that can be done at any time. Since Lone Elm Road/Interchange is also time sensitive (2004/5 design and 2007/8 construction) timing is also critical for it to receive funding. If the issue of competing against one's own projects for funding is brought up at the Tuesday, Nov. 2 Council meeting, it would be good if citizen supporters could remind Council of the timelines and urgency of Lone Elm Road, as well as the importance this route is for the future of on-road bicycling in Olathe.

Policy Issue: Staff is in the early stages of preparing a bicycle transportation plan. It is scheduled to be completed in early 2005. It is too early to tell what that plan will recommend. It is this plan that Council is waiting on to determine what Olathe's future policy regarding bicycle transportation and on-road bicycling will be. It will and should be very carefully evaluated for its costs, right-of-way implications and affect on citywide transportation.

Action: We cannot assume anything will happen as we want it to when politics is involved. We have to be ready to speak our mind at every opportunity. The next opportunity in Olathe, is Tuesday, Nov. 2, 7:00 PM, Olathe City Hall, 100 E. Santa Fe. If enough of bicyclists are present, they may not bring up the issue, which will still achieve our desired results.

Related:

News: Shawnee, KS, becomes first KC metro-area city to receive the LAB's "Bicycle-Friendly City" award

News: Bicycle advocate running for mayor of Shawnee, KS

permanent link to article: "24 Oct 2004 [EXPIRED]: Lone Elm, Olathe, KS (again)"
posted by Brent Hugh at 10/31/2004 10:24:00 PM |comment on this article

[UPDATE 3 NOV 2004: Claire McCaskill gave us a statement in strong support of the Katy Trail Connection; Matt Blunt's campaign was unable to develop a position in time but we will continue to work with Blunt now that the campaign is over; a group of cyclists is meeting with Kansas City Councilwoman Bonnie Sue Cooper to discuss KCMO involvement with and support of the Connection.

Please continue to write, call, and fax, particularly to Missouri governor-elect Matt Blunt and KCMO Mayor Kay Barnes.

McCaskill, who strongly supports the Katy Trail, will continue as Missouri State Auditor and so may yet be a very valuable resource.]

The issue
Kansas City Star columnist Mike Hendricks, who is a cyclist and writes often about bicycle and pedestrian issues, has issued a challenge to Kansas City Mayor Kay Barnes and to Missouri governor candidates Claire McCaskill and Matt Blunt to become a champion for connecting the Katy Trail to Kansas City:

Wanted: Politico with pull. Must be willing to make a priority of bringing the Katy Trail to Kansas City. Wages lousy, but your constituents will love you for it — assuming anybody loves politicians, which isn't very likely. . . .

But first, let's review for readers who are new to town or don't get out much. The Katy is, at 255 miles, the longest rails-to-trails project in the country. Built primarily on the bed of the former Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad, the hiking and biking trail has its eastern terminus just outside St. Louis, in St. Charles.

Its western end, for the time being, is in Clinton, some 75 miles southeast of downtown Kansas City.

So far, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources has been unable to connect the trail to KC, but there is a preferred route. That's the former Rock Island line from Windsor (several miles east of Clinton) to Pleasant Hill. . . .

But to get the job done, it's going to take some focused effort, backed up with strong support from one or more political leaders.

What you can do in five minutes
Contact these three politicians, mention the Mike Hendricks column, and ask them to become a champion for connecting the Katy Trail to Kansas City. The Missouri Bicycle Federation has already contacted these politicians with details about the issue. What they need to hear from you is that people care about the Katy Trail Connection and it will be worth their while (politically speaking) to spend time and effort on it:

Matt Blunt, candidate for governor
Phone: 573-632-2828
Fax: 573-632-2583
matt@mattblunt.com
Campaign Headquarters
Missourians for Matt Blunt
606 Dix Road
Jefferson City, MO 65109

Clair McCaskill, candidate for governor
(816) 300-5585
(816) 300-5586 - Fax
Send email via online form
Kansas City Office
1724 Main St.
Kansas City, Missouri 64108

Kay Barnes, Kansas City, Missouri, mayor
816-513-3500
816-513-3518 - Fax
Mayor@kcmo.org
City Hall
414 E. 12th Street, 29th Floor
Kansas City, MO 64106

Related:

News: More on extending the Katy Trail to Kansas City

News: Katy Trail connection to Kansas City--"get 'er done"

permanent link to article: "27 OCT 2004: Ask for support of a Katy Trail Connection"
posted by Brent Hugh at 10/27/2004 01:51:00 PM |comment on this article

[UPDATE: Several bicyclists, including representatives of the Greater Kansas City Bicycle Federation and the Johnson County Bicycle Club attended this meeting. The Missouri Bicycle Federation contacted all Olathe City Council members and the mayor with a statement. These measures were successful in convincing the Olathe City Council to apply for Transportation Enhancements funding to pay for additional width required on the overpass and approaches to include on-street bicycle accommodations. Read the MoBikeFed News article for full details.]

Bicyclists,

There will be a meeting of the Olathe, KS, City Council:

7:00 PM
Tuesday, Oct. 26
Olathe City Hall
200 E. Santa Fe
Olathe, KS
Council Chambers

The meeting will be about an overpass that will be expanded to become an interchange at I-35 and Lone Elm in Olathe, KS. 13 of 20 public comments received on the project have been from bicyclists requesting on-road accommodation on the overpass. No one has requested "off road" or "bicycle path" bicycle accommodation.

Lone Elm is commonly used by bicyclists, is on the county bicycle plan, and will be the only place to cross I-35 for some distance in either direction.

Despite all this, Olathe Public Works' solution is to put a wide sidewalk on one side of the road (only) and include no on-road bicycle accommodations.

In short, Public Works has completely ignored public input on the project and has, instead of the facilities the public has requested, included facilities that no one has requested.

The Lone Elm overpass will be four lanes wide (as will, eventually, the sections of Lone Elm that connect to it) with high speed limits and over 10% heavy truck traffic.

The purpose of the meeting Tuesday is to propose to the Olathe City Council that the extra money required to fund the bicycle accommodations on the bridge be requested at the top of Olathe's "Transportation Enhancement" requests. Currently no on-road bicycle projects are on Olathe's list of requests.

The Johnson County Bicycle Club and the Greater Kansas City Bicycle Federation are getting behind this. The more "bicycle bodies" we can have at that meeting the better our chance to resolve this situation in a mutually agreeable fashion.

Please make it if you can!

Click the "comments" button, below, for more details.

Related:

News: Bicycle advocate running for mayor of Shawnee, KS

News: THE VOTE: Amendment 3 debate heats up

permanent link to article: "26 OCT 2004 [EXPIRED, successful]: Lone Elm Interchange Meeting Tuesday Oct 26, 7PM"
posted by Brent Hugh at 10/26/2004 01:23:00 AM |comment on this article