KC bike/ped river crossing subject of KCStar article

A recent Kansas City Star article about the upcoming rebuilding of the Paseo bridge over the Missouri River devoted a significant section to the issue of bicycle and pedestrian access:

As part of the design, advocates for cyclists and pedestrians want separate lanes on the bridge. So far, the state has been reluctant to recommend them.

“We do not feel that being on the interstate route is the most prudent,” said Lee Ann Kell, transportation planning manager for the Transportation Department.

Walkers and bikers, Kell said, could be at risk from loose debris and vehicles traveling at high speeds. Although bike lanes are not being ruled out, Missouri highway officials think the Heart of America Bridge would be a better spot for them.

Bike advocates think such lanes are essential for any river bridge.

“People walk and bike all the time, and they’re going to continue to do so more and more,” said Sarah Gibson, owner of Acme Bicycle Co. downtown. “We can’t just keep building more roads and paving more of our landscape just to accommodate more cars.

“We need to start designing all of our infrastructure for people, not machines.”

The Missouri Bicycle Federation supports bicycle and pedestrian access on both the Paseo and the Heart of American bridges. The two bridges are quite far apart. They each will serve to connect substantially different areas and for different types of users (the Paseo is likely to make a better connection with MetroGreen trails while the Heart of America will better connect downtown KCMO and North Kansas City streets).

MoDOT is accepting comments about the river crossing, potentially the first to give real, safe bicycle and pedestrian access across the river in the entire Kansas City area.

You can leave comments through May 22nd and using MoBikeFed's online comments system you can do it in two minutes flat.