KCStar on Kansas City's first Missouri River crossing

The Kansas City Star today has an article on the efforts of the Missouri Bicycle Federation in cooperation with local advocacy and civic groups to support Kansas City first bicycle/pedestrian accessible Missouri River crossing:

The new Paseo Bridge is planned to last into the next century. But local critics say it’s being planned with the last century in mind.

With gas prices soaring and global warming in the headlines, cyclists and other civic interests say the new Missouri River crossing should be about more than just the car.

They have flooded the Missouri highway department with hundreds of letters pleading for a separate lane for bikes and pedestrians on the Paseo Bridge, which could be replaced with twin bridges or a single structure. . . .

Also calling for a bike lane are the Kansas City Council, the Port Authority of Kansas City and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Overland Park adopts "linkage plan"

According to a KCStar article today:

Overland Park has adopted a plan to construct a web of recreational trails and bike routes across the city’s older, northern half.

The $5.9 million Greenway Linkages plan is part of the city’s 2006 master plan, which the City Council approved this week.

North Overland Park has about 15 miles of trails, mostly in parks. The new plan will add 21 miles, with construction spread over 15 to 20 years.

Not as hard as you think

From the excellent BikePortland and the BTA Blog, Oregonians find it's not as hard as they thought.

With a couple nice new racks at the store, I'm seeing a few more bikes. Visiting our Cherry Creek (Denver) store, I was amazed at the number and variety of bicycles there. I saw a lot more old cruiser-type bikes. Denver may be a mile high, but the city is largely flat, it seems, from a one day visit.

I had a meeting last Thursday that required a 7:50 AM flight, which necessitated a 7:00 AM or earlier arrival at KCI. Checking into the KCATA, I found that one, it doesn't run in Firefox and secondly, I would have had to catch the bus at 4:52. My 10:30 PM return would entail a similar rignmarole, As much as I hope to save the planet, I chose to drive my soon-to-be sold truck to the airport. But it was a tough call.