Fighting (Imaginary) Traffic in Downtown Kansas City
Cities that have an unhealthy relationship with asphalt -- you know one when you see it.
Strong Towns' Charles Marohn recently visited dowtown Kansas City and was amazed by what he found: wide empty lanes, scores of unnecessary traffic lights, and an absence of traffic of any kind. He writes:
While there are many things that really depress me about America's cities, particularly those in the Midwest, there is one thing that stands out above the rest: our misunderstanding of what a street is. If you were from Kansas City, you would be excused for believing that streets are corridors for moving automobiles quickly from one parking lot to another. You would be excused because that is all you see.
Except for the fact that there are virtually no cars. That is another component of this entire mess: there is really no traffic to speak of. We're fighting a beast that does not exist. Let me elaborate.
I was out around lunch time and then again during rush hour. In the latter, Joe and I are biking down the street and, in the couple of miles we went, we were passed by no more than three cars. There was just nobody out there. On the way back to the hotel, we were just walking down the middle of the street laughing about how there was literally nobody here in a car.
This is a city of nearly half a million people. The city has spent billions on getting them in their cars. Where are they?
A few quick fixes could turn things around, according to Marohn. Allow streetside parking, convert one-way streets to two-way, narrow car lanes and add bike lanes, he says, and "sit back and watch the downtown prosper."
Elsewhere on the Network today: Urban Indy discusses an urban landscape feature that cries out for infill development: used car lots. Rebuilding Place in the Urban Space comments on an under-appreciated side-effect of bicycling: traffic calming. And City Block wonders what it would take to build a robust commuter rail system for DC.
Stay in touch
Sign up for our free newsletter
More from Streetsblog New York City
Why Sustainable Transportation Advocates Need to Talk About Long COVID
Covid-19 transformed many U.S. cities' approach to sustainable transportation forever. But how did it transform the lives of sustainable transportation advocates who developed lasting symptoms from the disease?
Analysis: ‘Dangerous Vehicle Abatement Program’ is a Failure By All Measures
The Department of Transportation wants the Dangerous Vehicle Abatement Program to simply expire in part because it did not dramatically improve safety among these worst-of-the-worst drivers and led to a tiny number of vehicle seizures.
School Bus Driver Kills Cyclist in Boro Park, 24th Bike Death of 2023
Luis Perez-Ramirez, 44, was biking south on Fort Hamilton Parkway just before 3:15 p.m. when he was struck a by school bus driver making a right turn.
‘Betrayal’: Adams Caves to Opposition, Abandons Bus Improvement Plan on Fordham Road
The capitulation on Fordham Road is the latest episode in which the mayor has delayed or watered down a transportation project in deference to powerful interests.
Friday’s Headlines: Yes He Said Yes He Will Yes Edition
That headline above is a reference to the last line of James Joyce's Ulysses, which we won't pretend to have read. But we have that ... and other news.
