KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Bike lanes along Truman Road in Kansas City, Missouri, were installed about three months ago.
In November, KSHB 41 saw the bike lanes confuse drivers, backup traffic and nearly cause several crashes.
On Friday, the Kansas City, Missouri Department of Public Works acknowledged the issues and said it's attempting to make changes.
More than 120 people showed up to the Gregg Klice Community Center for a community meeting on the issue.
The meeting was requested by Shawn Arcidino, the owner of Atomic Collision, and KCMO Councilwoman Melissa Robinson.
They said this was a problem-solving meeting to find a pathway forward or an ordinance to remove bike lanes from Truman Road.
“By a show of hands, how many business owners on Truman Road object to the Truman Road bike lanes?” Arcidino asked at the meeting.
At the meeting, Robinson filled pages and pages with business owner concerns about safety.
“The dangerous nature of having a parking lane and a driving lane be one and the same,” Robinson said. “If you’re parked in the parking lane and you have buses coming behind you, that is extremely dangerous.”
Several Truman Road business owners spoke of problems with loading and unloading flatbeds in an industrial area around the bike lanes with a reduced traffic lane.
“Servicing in and out of Truman Road is a nightmare,” a business owner who attended the meeting said.
Steve Leighter, with Kansas City Screw Products, agreed.
“They will put me out of business if I cannot bring the steel in for parts,” he said. “I can’t put my driver out there with a bullseye on his back.”
Business owners say there are safety concerns over customer parking, a decrease in profits, fast drivers, no signage and correctly parked cars possibly being hit.
“They should have had this meeting before the bike lanes were installed,” Robinson said.
Michael Shaw, director for KCMO Public Works, says he’s here to protect people and listen to feedback.
“We have to take accountability for some issues,” Shaw said. “I will tell you as a director, the implementation could have been better as related to how we put it down.”
A handful of people who were in support of the lanes were also there
“A lot of it comes down to there not being enough engagement to the city,” said Michael Kelly, with BikeWalkKC. “This is new infrastructure, it takes sitting down and explaining the infrastructure works, and who it’s meant to benefit.”
After Friday's meeting, Robinson said solutions considered are completely removing the bike lanes or adjusting them for permanent parking.
Robinson said an ordinance would be need to introduced and would need seven KCMO City Council votes to remove the bike lanes.
Shaw said the new bike lanes aren’t finished yet, but the installation won’t continue due to the safety concerns brought forth.
In the meantime, Shaw said there will be signs added to show drivers how to use the road until a decision is made.
“Because it's new, I think people are a little confused," Shaw said. "As a driver, the rules of the road stay the same the — lines dictate where you drive."
Shaw and Robinson said more details on how the city will move forward will be available in a week.
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