By CAROLYN SZCZEPANSKIKnown for its nation-leading urban sprawl, Kansas City has spent almost three decades spinning its wheels when it comes to accommodating pedestrians and cyclists. As far back as 1980, the Department of Parks and Recreation put together a plan for Kansas City Bikeways. But it went the way of side ponytails and parachute pants before it could gain any traction.In 1991, the Mid-America Regional Council initiated MetroGreen, a proposed network of trails that would span seven co
Last year, when the Missouri Bicycle Federation crunched the numbers on how friendly our roads and policies are toward walking and cycling, they gave the Show Me State a big, fat D. But a report released last week shows we're starting to shed our status as one of the slowest kids in the class when it comes to people-powered transportation. Every year, the League of American Bicyclists ranks the states for bike-friendliness. In 2008, Missouri came in 28th. In 2009, we shot up the charts in dramat
The relationship between cyclists and the Missouri Department of Transportation is marked with plenty of pot holes and dead ends. If you ask MoDOT, cyclists don't demand or use the roads enough to warrant the dollars they demand. If you ask bike advocates, they might complain that the state agency might as well be called the "Department of Single-Occupant Automobile Transportation" for all the attention they pay to alternative forms of transit.
The most notable divide over the past several
