North-south travel patterns dominate in KC, making identification of east-west (crosstown) routes difficult. There are fewer options; they are generally narrower and carry heavy traffic. So we’ve been slow to identify recommended crosstown routes. However, after a summer or riding, and thanks to the suggestions of readers, we’re beginning to add such routes to the map.
Our first, Route AA: Armour, uses the city’s only protected bike lanes as the backbone for a route that runs from Broadway on the west along Armour to where it becomes 35th Street east of MLK and all the way to Benton Boulevard, where it connects with Route G, the East Sider. It’s a straight shot. Along its relatively brief 2.4 mile route, it connects routes B, C, E and G and is one of the flattest routes possible in KC, with a maximum grade of 1.1%
Our second, Route BB: Meyer, runs from Route A: the State Liner at the Belinder Circle in Mission Hills east along Tomahawk to where it becomes Meyer Boulevard, and then along the entire length of Meyer to the front gates of Swope Park.
One glitch here: Google Maps only supports 10 layers, and since each route is on its own layer, we’ve hit the limit. Route BB, therefore, isn’t yet shown on Google Maps. We’ll probably need to restructure the map so all Crosstown routes are on the same layer, and then provide separate links to the RideWithGPS pages for these routes.
e-biking in Kansas City 