It’s happening. On Tuesday, KS + MO leaders announced the launch of their joint venture: the Bi-State Sustainable Reinvestment Corridor. That’s a mouthful — but what is it?

Essentially, this project will connect the 24-mile stretch between Independence, Sugar Creek, KCK, and the Legends Outlets with clean transportation like electric buses and bicycle + pedestrian routes.

But the vision goes beyond just redesigning transportation. Goals for the new corridor also include:

Championing energy-efficient housing
Adding area-wide broadband
Workforce training for green stormwater infrastructure

All of the groundwork for the corridor is scheduled to happen across three phases.

Phase one — Positioning | 2024-2025

Just launched, this phase is for ironing out concepts by getting community input + securing more investors.

Phase two — Accelerating | 2025-2026

This is when we’ll start seeing some changes as the team pours into local projects.

Phase three — Demonstrating | 2026-2027

Let’s show the world what KC can do. During this phase, the team will use the corridor as a case study, modeling what the future of the US could be.

Currently, ~90,000 people live across the 24-mile stretch. Leaders hope that the Bi-State Sustainable Reinvestment Corridor improves their lives wholistically — i.e. providing better access to childcare, allowing people to work further from home — while cleaning up the way KC commutes.

Want to keep up with the corridor? You can sign up for updates from the Mid-America Regional Council.