KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Streetcar announced that federal funding was secured to expand the rail system north to Berkley Riverfront.
The Federal Transit Authority awarded the streetcar $14.2 million to make the expansion.
At the end of August, the rail system was already awarded $50 million to expand the south end of the track from Union Station to the University of Missouri-Kansas City, which would incorporate the Country Club Plaza area into the system as well.
Berkley Riverfront is an ideal location to expand to in order to stimulate economic development in an underutilized area of Kansas City, according to the streetcar's website.
"This extension will not only connect downtown to the riverfront but it will afford numerous other benefits in mobility, improved connectivity, and economic development," the KC Streetcar Authority said in a news release.
An expansion north would add approximately a half-mile of track to the current line that stretches from the River Market to Union Station.
The federal grant provided 70 percent of the funds for the northward expansion.
The remaining portion of money for the $22.2 million project will come from local sources, which includes $5 million from Port KC, the KC Streetcar Authority said.
The riverfront extension is in the design phase, with work projected to begin in 2021 and a tentative opening date in 2024.
