KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Confusion and controversy continues after bike lanes were installed on Truman Road in Kansas City, Missouri, last fall.
Now, Kansas City Public Works continues looking for a solution as businesses say the bike lanes are dangerous and bad for business.
The lanes first began stirring up controversy when they were installed in October.
Two weeks ago, more than a hundred people showed up to voice their concerns, but the city claims there is still a need for more bike lanes in KCMO.
The city's bike-share program, which tracks city owned bikes, saw nearly double the number of trips in the last three years.
According to BikeWalkKC, the number of trips topped out at more than 47,000 rides in 2022.
On Wednesday, a crowd of about another 100 showed up to a community meeting at Gregg Klice Community Center.
Both city leaders, and the crowd agreed on one thing — there’s confusion along Truman Road.
They say the newly installed bike lanes are causing confusion to drivers, bicyclists, customers and business owners.
At the meeting Wednesday, the crowd was demanding change before danger increases.
“We had a guy smash a parked car,” said Shawn Arcidino, owner of Atomic Collison on Truman Road.
In response, some people have started parking inside of the bike lanes out of fear they'll get hit too.
“We’re trying to run a business, this affects our livelihood and our families,” Arcidino said.
But aside from the impact on businesses, safety was also top of mind at the meeting Wednesday.
“We have to go out in traffic before we can cross Armor Boulevard,” said one resident who lives near Truman Road.
Michael Shaw, director at KCMO Public Works, came up with proposed modifications.
Those include a permanent parking lane on the right, decreasing that part of Truman Road to one lane each way with a center lane, removing some delineators and adding loading zones.
But people in the meeting said they worry about drivers using side streets when there’s a traffic backup.
“Truman Road is a high injury network, and we have to reduce traffic accidents on Truman — that’s all I’m trying to do,” Shaw said.
Some people at the meeting say they've noticed a decrease in accidents.
“This is working; this is slowing the traffic,” a person at the meeting said.
Others wish these changes and chats happened before the installation of the bike lanes.
“It sounds like the business owners are uncomfortable and are not appeased by the solutions brought forward,” said Melissa Robinson, a KCMO City Councilwoman.
It’s unclear what the future of the bike lanes will be.
At the meeting, Shaw said a number of options will be considered including an ordinance to remove the bike lanes or a petition for a referendum to remove the bike lanes.
In the meantime, Shaw said discussions with businesses will continue.
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