🚧 Traffic Changes Ahead: Permanent Closure of East 49th Street Slip Lane 🚧
KC Streetcar Constructors will permanently close a portion of 49th Street between Brookside Boulevard and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard (the east 49th Street slip lane) on Thursday, February 15. This is a permanent closure of the east 49th Street slip lane to accommodate the new “streetcar only” lane from Emanuel Cleaver II Boulevard to 51st Street and will add pedestrian safety benefits to the area. This segment of the Main Street Extension makes up a portion of the 22% dedicated streetcar lanes from Union Station to UMKC.
What does this mean for vehicles?
Drivers traveling eastbound from the South Plaza neighborhood will no longer be able to use 49th Street to access Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. Drivers should use Main Street to Ward Parkway to access Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
Northbound traffic on Brookside Boulevard will have the ability to turn right onto Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
The map below explains this access.
Why close this roadway?
The KC Streetcar Main Street Extension was designed with 22% of the route being in dedicated streetcar lanes. The streetcar will operate in it’s own, dedicated lane on Brookside Boulevard from Emanuel Cleaver II Boulevard to the end of the line at 51st Street. Curbs will be built to protect the streetcar from other vehicular traffic and vice versa.
Because of this, the slip lane (or the dedicated right turn lane) will be behind the curb separating the streetcars from the vehicles.
The streetcar will operate in a dedicated streetcar lane when heading southbound on Main Street between Pershing Road and 27th Street. A dedicated curb was built to protect the streetcar from other vehicular traffic and vice versa.
Crews are pictured building track at the southern terminus of the KC Streetcar Main Street Extension. The streetcar will operate in a dedicated streetcar lane when heading northbound and southbound on Brookside Boulevard between Emanuel Cleaver II Boulevard and 51st Street.