KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The KC Streetcar Authority moved a 20,000-pound piece of equipment at Pershing Road and Main Street Tuesday morning.
The piece of the streetcar puzzle they moved is called a crossover, and it will connect the streetcar routes and make it easier for them to move north and south.
“This is where the new streetcar tracks are being connected to the existing downtown lines where the old meets the new and so it's a very exciting time. Even later this fall, we're going to be able to utilize this new segment of our route before we even open the entire extension,” said Donna Mandelbaum, KC Streetcar Authority.
Mandelbaum said this is just one of a few crossover moves that are part of the larger streetcar expansion, which will bring the total number of streetcars to 14. After the expansion, the streetcar will travel all the way from 51st and Brookside to the River Market.
“This will be very beneficial operationally because there might be times where we need to isolate the Midtown segments from Downtown. Maybe we're gonna offer more service Downtown for peak events or whatnot. So, this allows us the flexibility in our operations to be able to run the streetcar Downtown at higher frequencies than they would in Midtown,” Mandelbaum said.
The crossovers allow the cars to turn around without having to drive down the whole line.
This move is part of the Main Street Extension project, which costs $351 million and will wrap up in 2025, connecting the streetcar to UMKC.
