KANSAS CITY, Mo. — There are just 20 days until Kansas City, Missouri, hosts the 2023 NFL Draft, but Friday marked another big event for the city — the first First Friday of the season.
With a greater influx of people expected to fill the city's downtown streets in the coming weeks, the KC Streetcar conducted an operational test run of high-capacity service on Friday.
Donna Mandelbaum, communications director for the KC Streetcar Authority, says this strategy will be used during the NFL Draft to accommodate anticipated traffic.
"We're testing the system to see how it functions with five streetcars at the same time," Mandelbaum said. "This is something that we have not done since we tested the streetcar system when we first opened in 2016."
The high-capacity service will run from Thursday, April 27, through Saturday, April 29 — the duration of the NFL Draft.
Starting Wednesday, April 26, the Crossroads stop will be the southernmost spot accessible to riders. The Union Station stop will be inaccessible for security reasons.
Mandelbaum says KC Streetcar has also increased the number of operators and supervisors in preparation for the event.
"It'll be an all-hands-on-deck situation, and we'll make sure we get people exactly where they need to go," she said. "Whether that's to the Draft, to work, to home."
Unveiled Friday, the KC Streetcar rolled out two new wraps and five stops that are NFL-themed.
Mandelbaum says the two cars were sent to be wrapped Tuesday and were finished Thursday night, the quickest turnaround in streetcar history.
Designs were sponsored and funded by the Kansas City Sports Commission.
With a full fleet of six cars and five expected to run throughout the Draft, Mandelbaum says the featured designs will likely rotate:
- Sporting Kansas City
- Kansas City Current
- Worlds of Fun
- Super Bowl LVII victory
- NFL Draft (two different wraps)
Whether riders are from the area or visiting from out of town, Mandelbaum says she hopes everyone embraces the spirit of the NFL Draft.
"We ask everyone to come and take pictures with it, tweet it, share it, like it," she said. "We're so proud to be able to help bring this ginormous event to Kansas City."
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