The Kansas City Area Transportation Authority (KCATA) has a problem.
When voters approved the light rail plan for Kansas City, Missouri, many thought it would be only a few short months until construction would begin, but issues have reared their heads in the last few weeks that seem to be delaying every aspect of the project.
According to the KCATA web site (http://www.kcata.org/), The largest problem seems to be funding, and where it comes from. According to the ballot language, money for the light rail project will come out of an existing one-eighth of a cent sales tax previously levied for the KCATA. However, this tax is used for the bus system. That means the tax that now supports over forty percent of the bus system's budget will no longer be available, as the money goes to the rail project in April of 2009.
The federal government has a problem with this. The federal dollars to support transportation projects come from a fund called New Starts. New Starts Funding was mandated by Congress as a part of the Federal Transit Act and the National Environmental Policy Act. Cities or municipalities can qualify for the money on certain conditions, one of those being that local funding for new transportation projects cannot significantly affect the funding of existing modes of transportation, such as the bus system.
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The bill states that a requirement for receiving federal money is that the project be "supported by an acceptable degree of local commitment to maintain and operate the entire public transportation system without requiring a reduction in existing public transportation services or level of service to operate the proposed project."
This puts Huffer between a rock and a hard place. In order to obtain the funds he needs to fulfill the voters' mandate, he needs to breach the contract the voters mandated, or send another proposal to the voters.
Mayor-elect Mark Funkhouser thinks the proposal will not work in its current form. In an appearance on KCPT's Kansas City: Week in Review, Funkhouser expressed his concern that the proposal will have to be sent back to the public for further ratification of the financial principles.
Part of the holdup stems from an audit required for federal assistance, called an Alternative Analysis Study. The study costs around 3 million dollars, and Huffer is also trying to get federal help to fund that. This study looks at the feasibility of the proposal, as well as other issues surrounding the project, such as population density.
Competition for New Starts funding is fierce. With over 300 requests pending, the response time can be up to six years. The Alternative Analysis Study is the primary report looked at by the committee overseeing New Starts funding. If this project is to get off the ground, it might take a while.
Other issues besides money have KCATA officials concerned. The ballot language calls for an underground electrical system to power the trains, but KCATA officials question whether that is the most efficient method, both for engineering and financial purposes. More recent technologies may prove not only more economical, but longer lasting. KCATA isn't ruling out underground electrical grids, but they do want the freedom to pursue other avenues if necessary.
The ballot language also calls for the river crossing to be along the Heart of America Bridge, without the blessing of engineers. No one has yet said whether the bridge would be able to support the additional weight of the trains, tracks, and electrical systems.
The Alternative Analysis Study would decide these issues, but if an additional structure had to be added to the bridge, there is no financial plan for this. Concern has also been raised about the mandated wooden trestle to be built in Penn Valley Park.
The overall cost of the project is staggering. For every mile of track laid, the taxpayers will pay over 37 million dollars. In its current form, almost a billion dollars would have to be spent on the 27-mile line, which would start at the zoo and end at the airport, making stops in Brookside, the Plaza, downtown, and elsewhere.
One of the more intriguing issues that has barely scratched the surface of public debate is the constitutionality of the proposal in its current form. The rail line, once north of downtown, would go up Burlington Avenue, then North Oak Trafficway. It would then head west on Barry Road and follow I-29 to the airport.
The significance of this route is that it passes through North Kansas City and Gladstone, yet those voters were never given a chance to approve or deny the measure. KCATA officials are not saying much about this, but rest assured that a court challenge is inevitable before all the details are finalized.
For more info, see http://www.kcata.org/.
Copyright 2007 Metropolitan Community College