The Kansas City Streetcar Authority is moving forward with its yearslong effort to build an east-to-west streetcar route connecting the Historic 18th & Vine jazz district to downtown.
Streetcar leaders told residents at a public meeting Tuesday that a proposed streetcar route along 18th Street, connecting The Paseo west to Main Street and the existing line, would cost $125-175 million to build.
Officials have yet to determine how the project’s capital and operating costs would be funded, and any such project is years away from becoming a reality.
Construction on the extension from downtown to the University of Missouri-Kansas City campus took about four years to be completed, although planning for the financial infrastructure began all the way back in 2017.
Renderings of the proposed route show the easternmost stop at The Paseo, at the entrance of 18th and Vine. It includes a small loop — similar to the one around the City Market — from The Paseo to Troost Avenue and 18th to 19th streets. The westernmost stop would be at Main and 18th streets.
The route would allow for future expansion east of The Paseo, or into the city’s Westside neighborhood along Southwest Boulevard.
“That would be a door opener for everyone in the community,” said 18th & Vine resident Stacie Minor. “I think that would give us the opportunity to leave our cars at home and hop on the streetcar.”
With recent city investments in the jazz district — such as a new pedestrian area, plus restorations and updates to the American Jazz Museum, the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum and the Boone Theater — Minor said a streetcar would be another boost to the neighborhood.
“I think it's going to bring a lot of people, attraction to 18th and Vine,” Minor said. “I'm excited to see what's going on. I've been living in the area for 15 years. Finally, we're getting some work done to our community.”
The Streetcar Authority began its feasibility study on an east-west streetcar route last year after greenlighting $180,000 for the effort.
Tuesday’s public meeting came on the heels of the streetcar’s high-visibility summer and major milestones for the existing north-south route. The streetcar’s 3.5 mile southern extension to the University of Missouri-Kansas City campus opened last October, and its northern extension to the Berkley Riverfront and CPKC Stadium was completed in May.
During the World Cup, the streetcar broke multiple ridership records, with more than 800,000 passenger trips between June 11 and July 11, according to the Kansas City Streetcar Authority. The streetcar played a central role in transporting people to the FIFA Fan Festival at the National WWI Museum and Memorial, and game days repeatedly raised the ceiling for single-day ridership numbers.
“We don't want to lose that momentum because these projects take a long time to build,” said Donna Mandelbaum, communications and marketing director for the Streetcar Authority. “It really is no rest time if you want to keep connecting Kansas City with public transit, whether that's bus or streetcar, and it should be both. It's not either-or, but it's both.”
Over the years, Kansas City officials have discussed different options for a streetcar running east to west. In 2023, Ride KC and the Streetcar Authority proposed a route along Linwood Boulevard and 39th Street, connecting Van Brunt Boulevard to the University of Kansas Health System.
Lawrence Blankinship, who attended the public meeting Tuesday, said he’s interested in the project as a member of the nearby St. Monica Catholic Church.
“For me, there are a lot of positive things that are going on within the Historic 18th & Vine district,” Blankinship said. “And certainly being connected by streetcar is an exciting opportunity… for the area.”
After gathering public comment, the KC Streetcar Authority will publish a final report with a recommended route later this year.
