KC Streetcar officials encouraged by FTA's rating for proposed extension

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) has granted a "medium-high" rating to the Kansas City Streetcar Authority's proposed Main Street extension, marking a crucial step toward project construction, streetcar officials announced yesterday.

The rating for the $316 million project, which would extend the streetcar route from Main Street to the University of Missouri-Kansas City, positions the project to compete favorably for federal funding, authority officials said in a press release.

"This is the rating our team had hoped and worked for," said Tom Gerend, the authority's executive director. "The rating reinforces the success of our downtown starter line and positions our Main Street extension amongst the most deserving projects in the entire country.”

In fall 2018, the authority, the KC Area Transportation Authority and Kansas City officials submitted a request for $151 million in federal funding under the New Starts Capital Investment Grants Program and inclusion in the federal 2020 budget to support the project.

FTA's New Starts grant program funds transit capital investments including heavy rail, commuter rail, light rail, streetcars and bus rapid transit systems. Both federal and local funding is required to move the streetcar extension project into design and construction.

If the $151 million federal grant is secured, the funds would be combined with $164 million in voter-approved local dollars to pay for the project, streetcar authority officials said.

Meanwhile, the streetcar extension project team is pursuing project development activities, station stop location and track alignments, environmental documentation and development of a financial plan related to the federal funding proposal.

In addition, the team recently issued a request for qualifications and proposals for professional engineering and architectural services for the project. The deadline to submit proposals is 2 p.m. April 25.