A UMKC professor and several students had the opportunity to contribute ideas for the new KC Streetcar stop at the Volker campus.

比尔Yord, an adjunct instructor for the 计算机与工程学院, also serves as Senior Project Manager with the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority (KCATA) and utility manager with the KC Streetcar South Extension. 他也是UMKC校友(B.S. '01, M.S. '09).

Yord reached out to Streetcar stakeholders about UMKC senior students assisting with designs for the Streetcar's south terminus at UMKC, which is part of the ongoing KC Streetcar South Extension project.

扩建项目, which has gone through planning and design by 市政府官员 since 2017 and will soon be under construction, will cover more than 30 city blocks and will extend the existing 2.2-mile 'Starter Line' to the UMKC Volker Campus, providing an exciting new access opportunity for the campus.

The UMKC Streetcar stop will be at 51st Street and Brookside Boulevard, near the former location of the Oak Place Apartments.

"I was looking at the Streetcar construction and thinking, 'We have to bring the students in on this and I called the KCATA and asked, 'Would you all be interested in involving a UMKC senior design project for the Streetcar?’”约德说. "I got a call back in about five minutes and the answer was an overwhelming yes."

对于高级项目, students were asked to study pre-existing blueprints of the UMKC Streetcar stop and come up with design concepts for the project.

“我们什么都看:道路设计, 车站平台设计, 客运设施, 公用事业公司, 分级和排水,耶和华说。. "We would all get together and look at the designs and say 'What can we incorporate"? 我们怎样才能让它变得更好?' Then we would give those plans to the stakeholders and they would come back with suggestions and we would say, “好吧, 现在我们如何使它更健壮?从那以后就一直这样下去."

约旦盐, 参与该项目的学生, said he would walk past the stop site every day on his way to campus to "trigger" thoughts on how to do things differently.

"Knowing that this project was going to potentially contribute to a major infrastructure project made it one of the most interesting projects in my college career,盐说. "The project's proximity to where I study and live inspired me."

布鲁克斯贝利, 谁也参与了这个项目, said one of the biggest things she learned while working on the project was how many people are involved in designs for city projects.

"For the Streetcar project we met with people from UMKC, KCATA, 市政府官员, 堪萨斯城有轨电车管理局, 联邦运输管理局, 堪萨斯城公用事业部门, 我的意思是这样的例子不胜枚举,布鲁克斯说. "I enjoyed getting the chance to brainstorm creative ideas for the Streetcar stop with the group."

在学期结束时, the students presented their preliminary design plans to a large group of stakeholders who were heavily involved in the extension. Brooks said her favorite design concept submitted was putting a kangaroo fountain at the UMKC stop. 

“我们毕竟是喷泉之城!布鲁克斯说.

“我总是坐电车, so I'll be so proud to see some of our design ideas hopefully used in the stop."

Final plans for the UMKC stop are not completed, so it's too soon to tell how much of a role the students' designs will play in the final product, but Yord said he has no doubt that some of the students' design work will be implemented.

"I can confidently say that our students had a hand in making the (UMKC stop) a better place for our students, our faculty and the community to come in and come out of the university,耶和华说。.

扩建项目, 以及新的UMKC有轨电车站的启用, 预计在2025年完工.

Those interested in hearing more about the extension can attend the Kansas City Streetcar extension webinar from 8:30 to 10 a.m. 10月星期五. 22. The event is being hosted by the SCE 校友 Association and the SCE 校友 Relations Office.

The webinar will feature a moderated panel of professionals working on the streetcar extension, 包括Yord. 

其他小组成员包括Tom Gerend, Executive Director of 堪萨斯城有轨电车管理局; Cindy Moses, Regional Engineer for the Federal Transit Administration; Jason Waldron, Transportation Director for the Public Works Department for the City of Kansas City; and Nick Stadem, HDR项目经理, 一家设计和建筑公司.

整个网络研讨会可以 看这里.