This story is part of an ongoing series, On Track with KC. If you have questions about the extension of the streetcar, you can submit them here.
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The public will be able to ride the KC Streetcar’s Main Street Extension immediately following a grand opening ceremony at 10 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 24. The ceremony is open to the public and will take place at the Plaza stop.
To accommodate an anticipated high demand of passengers, the KC Streetcar Authority has scheduled extra streetcars to be in service. About 11 cars will be running on the full line that weekend.
The streetcar is hosting community celebrations Oct. 24-25.
Friday’s event takes place at the University of Missouri-Kansas City stop. It runs from 5 to 9 p.m. and will include bands, food and other vendors.
Saturday’s celebration is focused on Midtown. It takes place at Murray Davis Park, near Westport Road and Main Street, from noon to 9 p.m. The more family-friendly event will feature performances by the Stone Lion Puppets and Pythons drill team.
“It’s a big milestone for Kansas City,” said Tom Gerend, executive director of the KC Streetcar Authority. “It’s a generational reconnection for our community. This is going down in the history books. Come be a part of history.”
The KC Streetcar Authority partnered with students from the Kansas City Art Institute to create a poster celebrating the grand opening.
Sam Morgan’s design was selected for the occasion. The poster will be available as a giveaway at community celebrations during opening weekend.
Main Street Tavern has been open for about two years near 37th and Main streets. The owner, Mirella Welsh, is eager for construction to come to an end outside her bar and for the streetcar to begin bringing customers her way.
“We have a stop two blocks north of us and two blocks south of us, so it’s kind of perfect,” she said.
Welsh is tentatively planning to have some sort of celebratory event at the tavern during the extension’s opening weekend.
Once the extension opens, the streetcar will begin running at 5 a.m. along the entire route. It currently starts service at 6 a.m.
The 3.5-mile extension will bring the KC Streetcar south of Union Station to 51st Street and Brookside Boulevard. The project has been in the works since 2017 and costs about $350 million.
The original streetcar line opened downtown in 2016. An extension north to the Berkley Riverfront will open in 2026.
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KSHB 41 reporter Charlie Keegan covers politics on both sides of the state line. If you have a story idea to share, you can send Charlie an email at charlie.keegan@kshb.com.