KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The cost of the Kansas City Streetcar’s extension to the riverfront has jumped 75%.
Running the streetcar less than a mile from its current northern stop, at Third Street and Grand Boulevard, to Berkley Riverfront is now expected to cost $61.1 million, according to the KC Streetcar Authority.
It’s a $26.2 million increase from the last projected cost of $34.9 million, which project leaders provided in December 2022.
Both are a big hike from the original estimate of $20.2 million back in 2021, according to the Kansas City Business Journal. But that was before KC Streetcar leaders decided to extend the project another 0.15 miles, closer to the Kansas City Current’s new stadium.
Spokespersons for the KC Streetcar Authority and Port KC, another agency leading the project, cited increasing costs.
“Construction costs around the country have been on the rise for several years, and the KC Streetcar Riverfront Extension was not immune to that,” a KC Streetcar Authority spokesperson said.
Streetcar leaders plan to secure a construction contract for the riverfront extension by the end of the year. Work on the project should start in the new year, the agency said.