The Kansas City Area Transportation Authority (KCATA) and the Unified Government of Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Ks., (UG) will celebrate the grand opening of the KCK Midtown MetroCenter at 47th and State Avenue at 10 a.m. Sept. 27.
This event represents the culmination of a $13 million infrastructure investment along the State Ave. corridor called State Ave. Connex. The investment corresponds with improvements to bus routes serving Wyandotte County, Ks.
The new KCK MetroCenter will make transferring and waiting for bus connections between The Metro and Unified Government Transit more comfortable, convenient and safer.
Additional improvements include an 11,000 square foot building that will feature a four-sided clock tower and house:
• The Kansas City, Ks., Police Department’s Midtown Patrol Division, providing 24-7 police presence.
• The Area Agency on Aging’s mobility management services.
• A transit community space for a broad range of transit and community activities.
It is also expected that the improvements will help spur economic development in the surrounding area and throughout the State Avenue corridor.
“The new $5.5 million KCK Midtown MetroCenter will become a hub for regional transit and economic development,” said KCATA General Manager Mark Huffer. “Through a partnership with the Unified Government, MARC, Area Agency on Aging and the KCKPD, this project is one of the most significant regional transit investments made to date.”
The celebration will include speakers and a procession of eight buses representing regional transit providers, The Metro, Unified Government Transit and The JO.
Following the ceremony, there will be building tours and a cookout.
The Midtown KCK MetroCenter officially opens Sept. 29, and is built to currently accommodate 12 buses. This transit center and the recently opened Downtown KCK MetroCenter at 7th and Minnesota Avenue. feature improved customer waiting areas, real-time passenger information and a park-and-ride lot. At the centers and along the route, KCATA and UG have built passenger shelters and benches, added bus stop platforms and landscaping, and improved pedestrian connections.
State Ave./KCK Connex improvements have been made along the 14-mile transit route that begins at the 10th and Main MetroCenter in downtown Kansas City, Mo., travels through downtown Kansas City, Ks., and ends at Village West at 109th and Parallel Parkway. KCATA, in partnership with the Unified Government, is making these improvements along the corridor with funding from the regional Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant, federal stimulus funds and the Unified Government.
