Kansas City Light Rail Plans Fail

"With gas prices plunging and the economy in the dumps, only 44 percent of voters backed an extra 3/8-cent sales tax for a 14-mile light-rail line."

"'Too many things broke against us,' said Kansas City lawyer Pat McLarney, a leader of the campaign supporting light rail."

"Opponents said a lack of specifics in the route, along with the economy, doomed the plan."

"It was a vastly different outcome from two years ago, when Kansas City voters approved a plan crafted by Clay Chastain that the city later decided was unworkable and too costly."

"A half-cent sales tax for light rail passed Tuesday in North Kansas City with 59 percent support, but officials there said they would find a way to ensure the tax isn’t collected if the Kansas City plan failed."