The arrival of Kansas City’s first streetcar has been delayed – again.The manufacturer CAF USA, originally agreed to a summer delivery but later had to push it to this week.Now, it looks like it will be November before the first streetcar gets to Kansas City.
Streetcar Authority spokeswoman Donna Mandelbaum isn’t willing to call it a delay just yet.
“All in all, it’s just a few business days behind what we thought could be the delivery date,” says Mandelbaum.
Mandelbaum says a few minor quality issues were discovered last week as the factory prepared to ship the streetcar. Those issues have since been addressed, she says, and the tests are being rerun.
The goal is to have the $100 million streetcar system up and running for the Big 12 basketball tournament next spring. Three additional streetcars are supposed to arrive in December, but the city needs the first so it can begin testing the newly-laid tracks.
Mandelbaum says drivers who travel along the streetcar route will notice changes as soon as the first streetcar gets here.
“There will be new signage and new striping on the roadway to mark where you can and cannot park,” Mandelbaum says, adding that parking enforcement will ramp up and cars parked over the white line will be towed.
Elle Moxley is a reporter for KCUR. You can reach her on Twitter @ellemoxley.
