This is very smart of him. It lets the plan look good and something gets built without waiting on more funding. And we know that it's easier to build onto what already exists with railkboish wrote:I believe that this time the ballot language is such that if approved, it basically acknowledges the funding may be inadequate to do the whole thing and to pretty much "do what you can" and doesn't specify any priorities, but it would have to be used for rail and buses.
The council also has new chastain plan language which in theory could extend the streetcar system. Like it moved to having a stop in NKC and down to the plaza which could work off the phase 2 segments already planned on both sides of the river, crossing on/near the HOA bridge and not repeat track work, like not building on Broadway and up the extension.
I'm not so sure that if the committee sub gets on the ballot that they would kill it if it passes. The TDD extension requiring federal funding to happen and this being designed not to, take the two local funding sources together and the streetcar could cross the river and head further south than UMKC without federal funding being needed.
If trump wins the election and the current rail funding dries up, and both items win the council is putting together plans to actually build.
Also, if this wins and the TDD fails, which seems the least likely to happen, this would let the city still build to UMKC. I bet the council could decide not to take the bus tax and implement the new one only in this case. 3/8 is a lot of money citywide.
Saying they'll just kill the plan seems ignorant of the greater money issues that could be in play in 2017.