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The Kansas City Streetcar’s Riverfront extension is now in the testing phase.

KC Streetcar Authority Executive Director Tom Gerend said the first tests in mid-December went as well as they had hoped, and the extension appears on track to open next spring, perhaps in April.

“We always are committed to doing this the right way,” Gerend said. “The team has made great progress ahead of schedule, but we want to make sure that we do the work that’s necessary to open it right.”

Gerend said more tests will be conducted in the coming months to help crews determine what works well and what needs more attention. In the first quarter of next year, the KC Streetcar Authority will hold orientation for employees.

“We’ll need to push all of our staff through becoming familiar with the new route, with operating streetcars and testing streetcars on it,” Gerend said. “Making sure everything works as an integrated system before we get ready to launch this in public service.”

Gerend said the testing process is federally regulated, as the Main Street extension was. Traffic may experience minor delays over the next few months, with the possibility of the closure of Grand Boulevard between Third Street and the Riverfront.

“There’s always going to be more work to do, and we still have a little ways to go on the project,” Gerend said. “It’s really a big relief for the project team and a big milestone as we look to push through the final finishing touches early next year and open the route next spring.”

The Kansas City Streetcar’s Main Street extension opened in October, after years of construction. The long-awaited grand opening was met with a weekend of community celebrations.

That 3.5-mile extension stretches from Union Station to the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Once the new extension opens, riders will be able to take the streetcar the entire route, from the Riverfront to UMKC.

“We really are pushing forward what we think is the generational reconnection of our Riverfront,” Gerend said. “So excited to connect all of the extended streetcar routes up to the Riverfront through a one-seat ride.”

Businessman Jim Falk donates the money. Aaron “Moose” Reichert, owner of Krank Cycles Maui, donates the muscle. The result is brand new bikes for hundreds of kids, built by volunteers who unbox, assemble and safety check bicycles over four Saturdays leading up to Christmas.

Reichert got involved after the pastor at Kumulani Chapel, Rick Avila, asked him to help. The year before, Falk had bought about 100 bikes from Walmart, Reichert said, but assembly “turned out to be much more challenging than expected.”

“They were looking for help making sure the bikes were built properly and, most importantly, safely,” he said. “And that’s where we stepped in.”

What started out as 20 or 30 volunteers grew to 150, and with them the number of bikes they could handle over two “build days” grew, too. It “doubled year over year,” he said, “until about six or seven years ago when it leveled off around 400 to 500 bikes annually.”

The other two Saturdays are focused on building bikes delayed by shipping issues and that’s also when professional bicycle mechanics go over every bolt, the brakes and the drive train to ensure the bikes are safe and ready to ride.

This year the final Saturday was cancelled. A post on the Krank Cycles Instagram account explained: “Maui… you absolutely showed up. ❤️ We’re officially DONE with all the bikes for the Jim Falk Christmas Keiki Bike Build!”

Makawao woodworker Paul Pyzyna has volunteered the last few years. “My heart comes up to my throat,” he said of pitching in to help needy kids. “I’m always on the verge of tears.”

Reichert also feels the satisfaction from giving back. “The bicycle has often been called one of the most noble inventions made by humankind, and I believe that,” he said. “Beyond the ride itself, it’s been a vessel, both personally and professionally, that’s allowed me to serve the community I live in and love and even communities beyond Maui.”

Bikes go not just to Maui children but to keiki on other county islands. On a recent Wednesday morning before sunrise, Krank Cycles Maui employees and Trilogy Excursions volunteers loaded about 40 bikes and helmets onto a catamaran bound for Kaunakakai, Molokaʻi.

The Maui Bike Build is a, “growing annual tradition between Trilogy and our friends at Krank Cycles,” said boat captain Riley Coon. “Moments like these embody what it means to be a family-owned business on Maui: coming together, showing up for community.” Coon is one of the owners and a descendant of the original founders of the 53-year-old Trilogy Excursions, which include sailing, snorkeling and whale watching tours.

Coon said that for him the project “carries an extra layer of aloha, as our family’s Hawaiian roots trace back to Moloka‘i. And even generations later, that connection still feels alive.”

Once on island, volunteers including firefighters and employees of Bayer Hawaii help with assembly. Molokai Bicycle owner Phillip Kikukawa brings his shop’s work stand to the Kaunakakai Fire Station to speed the process.

Back on Maui, most of the bikes are distributed through the Boys & Girls Club from the showroom of Falk’s auto dealership, Valley Isle Motors in Kahului.

“Seeing that many kids receive bikes at once: the excitement, joy, and immediate freedom is incredible,” Reichert said.

This year, Reichert also surprised the Oshima family, who had volunteered at their church and for the bike build itself, with bikes. “I feel like a teenager again!” mother Mayumi Oshima said after taking her bike for a spin.

The build is especially meaningful to Reichert because he has a deep, personal connection to bicycles.

“As a kid, I grew up in a hostile home environment filled with dysfunction and abuse,” he said. “Someone gave my mom a bike to give to me, and when I received it, everything changed.”

He taught himself to ride in an empty lot.

“Even then, I knew that bike was my vessel to freedom,” he said. “The feeling of freedom I experienced riding away on that bicycle has never been surpassed — not by my first car, first apartment, or first serious relationship.”

“To give that same sense of freedom to a child,” he added, “is something I don’t have words for.”

Civil Beat’s coverage of Maui County is supported in part by a grant from the Nuestro Futuro Foundation.