Has Kansas City hit the bottom? New trails plan moving forward . . .

Do we have to point out again all the ways Kansas City comes in dead last in the U.S. for bicycling?

KC was the worst in a recent study comparing commuting costs in the largest cities in the U.S.

And dead last in bicycle commuting of 50 largest U.S. cities (at about one quarter the bike commuting of the 49th city--which was not exactly a stellar performer itself).

KC has less than than half the bicycling and walking of the national average--4.3% of trips in KC, versus 9.5% nationally. (Most walking and bicycling takes place in urban areas, so for a highly populated city to be even at that national average is bad--but KC is 50% below that . . . )

So why is it no surprise KC is close to dead last on its trail system as well?

Mark Smith of Kansas City isn’t impressed with the trails in his hometown.

“We don’t have enough,” the middle-aged man said recently while taking his weekly walk on the crushed limestone of the Trolley Track Trail south of the Country Club Plaza. He added that existing pathways “aren’t connected very well.”

Smith’s criticisms are on target. They mirror the concerns of many Kansas Citians who have long called for adding dozens of miles of pathways throughout the city and linking them.

Enter the Citywide Trails Plan, a much-needed effort by city officials to craft a trail-building strategy by year’s end. More information is available at www.kcmotrails.com.

Read the rest of the article on the KCStar web site.

Maybe KC has hit the bottom and is now on the way up?