It’s hard to imagine that a street now lined with parking structures and office towers was once a bustling corridor of vibrant urban living + entertainment — but that’s exactly how Kansas City’s 12th Street used to look.

Hold up. This isn’t a history story — it’s about a plan to reinvent east-to-west connectivity downtown (and with it, maybe restore the 12th Street Drag to some of its former glory). But first, let’s touch on its origin story.

History of KC's 12th Street

KC boomed around the turn of the century, and 12th Street became home to several theaters, shows, and bars. The Folly Theater (still open today) opened in 1900 as the Standard Theater.

“12th Street was like the Las Vegas of its day.” — Chuck Haddix, Marr Sound Archives, UMKC

There’s even a tune called “Twelfth Street Rag,” published by Euday Bowman in 1915.

However, the area fell into decline in the mid-1900s. A push in the late 1960s to ‘70s for urban renewal — “clearing out the slums” — knocked down old buildings and led to the business district we know today.

Current conditions

“The 11th and 12th Street corridors are the busiest bus corridors in the entire Metro.” — KCMO

Today, 12th Street is a three-lane one-way interrupted by out-of-sync stop lights. A recent study found that the street is only optimized for cars — a far cry from its heyday.

Pedestrian: Insufficient mobility
Bicycle: No infrastructure
Transit (buses): Average 6 mph

The Plan

In December 2017, the city passed the Complete Streets ordinance to increase safety for all, including walkers, bikers, bus riders, and people using wheelchairs. That led to a study of 11th and 12th Street as the primary east-west connection.

Graphic of 11th and 12th streets via KCMO.gov

The result suggests these changes:

Two-way cycle track on the inside (north side) of 12th Street
Bus-only lanes along the outside curb of 11th and 12th Street
Curb extensions + better ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) compliance
Improve traffic light coordination to minimize queuing

If implemented, the changes would potentially double transit speeds + increase pedestrian use.

What’s next?

We spoke with Kurt Rotering of Olsson, credited in the study, about what’s next. He said there’s a CMAQ (Congestion Mitigation Air Quality) grant provided by the Mid-American Regional Council that provides some funding. He also said there’s support for implementation by City Manager Ben Platt.

We called and emailed the city manager’s office, and we will update this story when we hear back.

Spongebob’s 12th Street connection

City Editor Travis here. When I was researching 12th Street’s history, something peculiar happened. A search for the tune “Twelfth Street Rag” resulted in a Spongebob video (thanks, Google).

After some investigative journalism, I found out that this tune from the hit Nickelodeon show actually comes from the rag native to KC — it’s the chart’s main three-note melody. Who knew Kansas City’s reputation made it all the way to Bikini Bottom?