urbanSTL

Busdad wrote:As one transit patron who frequently uses the Civic Center Metrobus and Metrolink Station, the new Multi modal center will really be quite usable. The restroom and food court are very close to the train station and not much further from the Metrobus facility.



This entire project was reworked over the past five years to get a budget which was unfundable. Previously this project was going nowhere. We now have a beneficial project that will actually happen.



The Metrobus facility was actually constructed as the first as part of the full multimodal entire project. The original design that I saw had Spruce Street extended over the Metrolink Station to the west. There was no Metrobus facility, but the extended Spruce had space for Metrobuses on the side of the bridge over the station. Buses would sit on a 5 % grade. It was not very workable and really a terrible message to bus riders. We now have 2,700 daily bus boardings at or adjacent to the Civic Center Station on a weekday. That's comparable ridership to many downtown Metrolink Stations.



The designer of the current Metrobus facility also did the structure now being constructed. The city pulled Metro's portion out of the Amtrak Station package allowing Metro obtain a facility several years before the Multimodal project was done and negotiated with AMTRAK, MODOT, and Greyhound. I think the previous project (pre-redesign) would have cost $50 million. The city didn't have half that money.



Early ideas of the design did consider a pedestrian bridge crossing from the Metrobus facility to the Metrolink Station and the Multimodal center. I think the cost was pretty much out of sight and not a very practical design. You would have had to fit elevators and stairs in between the catenary poles. The current grade crossing and sidewalk and ramp approach, while requiring more walking, certainly is much more practical.



Perhaps if someone has a $1 million or more dollars, you could cover the walkway up to the train station and continue it up the stairs to the Bus facility. I will carry an umbrella until then.



I, for one, am thankful that there will now be a downtown Metrolink Station & Metrobus center adjacent to this intercity transportation hub with accessible rest rooms and food businesses very close by.

Arch City wrote:^I thought about that too, but the truth of the matter is.....cars crash through buildings all of the time. I've seen footage of cars and trucks crashing through stores and businesses from parking spaces close to buildings.



The good thing is that I don't recall any cars falling from the highway in that area - ever.

Planners say construction of a new multimodal transportation facility downtown is going well. However there have been some delays, and the project will probably wind up being a bit more expensive than first thought.



The new terminal will replace the downtown Amtrak and Greyhound stations, and also provide MetroLink access.



Project consultant John Roach says the facility will probably be open in the spring. But he says it will cost $3 million more than the $22 million first planned.



"They suffered some delays having to do with subsurface conditions," Roach said, in an interview. "They found a lot of concrete [and] some very wet areas. That's not an unusual situation in St. Louis, particularly in an area like down in the old Mill Creek Valley.



"At one point that was a lake."



The state is providing most of the money. Amtrak and Greyhound are also chipping in.



The multimodal station is going in alongside the Civic Center MetroLink stop near the ScottTrade center.

Jambo wrote:Some pics at the station:

JivecitySTL wrote:I can't see the pics, but the colored panels sound retrofabulous!!!

Framer wrote:Hmm...I think I like the mulit-colored windows. They're small enough that they don't really jump out at you. They're more like an accent.