NEWS RELEASE

November 22, 2011

Contacts:
Dan Ferguson, Jackson County, Missouri, Public Information Officer, 816/881-3271
Tom Gerend, Mid-America Regional Council, Assistant Transportation Director, 816/701-8303

Open houses scheduled to review potential transit options in Jackson County

To continue the regional conversation on ways to enhance mass transit in the Kansas City metropolitan area and to receive input on potential options along the I-70 east and Rock Island Corridors in Jackson County, the study team for the Jackson County Commuter Corridors Alternatives Analysis is sponsoring three open houses.

The first open house will be from 4 to 6 p.m. November 29 at the Gamber Center, 4 S.E. Independence Avenue, Lee's Summit, Missouri. Short presentations will be given at 4:15 and 5:15 p.m. to update the public on the alternatives analysis process, a necessary step in applying for and receiving federal transportation dollars to help construct new transit systems.

To complement this formal open house, additional opportunities for comment will be available to the public. Project boards will be displayed at key locations in the corridors from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Project partnership and consultant team staff will be on hand to answer questions from 4 to 6 p.m.
These meetings will take place according to the following schedule:

November 30, 2011
Mid-Continent Library, 2220 South 7 Highway , Blue Springs, Missouri

December 1, 2011
Southeast Community Center, 4201 E. 63rd Street, Kansas City, Missouri

The study is largely funded by a $1.8 million competitive grant from the Federal Transit Administration. The grant funds are being used by the study team to conduct this alternatives analysis along the I-70 and Rock Island commuter corridors, as well as a study that identified a preferred route and use of streetcars for a starter line in downtown Kansas City, Missouri. The Federal Highway Administration awarded a separate $652,000 competitive grant for a companion alternatives analysis along the U.S. Highway 71 corridor, including Kansas City and Grandview in Jackson County and Raymore and Belton in Cass County.

The study team includes Jackson County, Missouri, the City of Kansas City, Missouri, the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority and Mid-America Regional Council. The partners hired a consultant team led by Parsons Brinckerhoff. Also on the team are Olsson Associates, TranSystems, Taliaferro & Browne, KOA and Shockey Consulting Services.

More open houses will be held in other Jackson County communities in late winter and early spring. Dates, times and locations for those events will be announced as soon as they are available.

For materials and updates on the commuter corridors alternatives analysis, and other regional studies, visit MARC's Smart Moves website at:
www.kcsmartmoves.org/projects/jacksoncounty.aspx.

Please notify the Mid-America Regional Council at (816) 474-4240 at least 48 hours in advance if you require special accommodations to attend this meeting (i.e., qualified interpreter, large print, reader, hearing assistance).

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