urbanSTL

As I've said before, because I love making ludicrous proposals and most likely have too much time on my hands...





For a larger version of the image above, click here.



Summary:

8 lines (3 core lines with branches on one or both ends)

118 stations, 44 shared, 27 in Illinois, 46 in the city of St. Louis

Stations per line: 20 Red, 21 Purple, 27 Green, 36 Blue, 32 Orange, 19 Brown, 20 Pink, 20 Silver

Most of the above follows recommendations of previous planning studies.

Needless to say, there is lots of tunneling involved here (I did say ludicrous, right?).



The aerial image below is HUGE! Please do not repost the image on the forum in its naked form as it will severly disrupt this page's layout. I've declined making a smaller image for fear of losing too much detail (it's already half size).





100th post!

I am suprised by your proposal both because it incorporates many of the current train right of ways or possible arterials I had in mind. However, it seems inequitable with greater transit south and west than north.



Valley Park & Butler Hill are a greater distance than possible extensions north into Florissant, Black Jack, or Hazelwood.



Metrolink expansion may cause us to rethink light rail verse commuter vs elevated/subway (heavy rail). Places like Valley Park probably should have commuter rail with light rail beginning in Kirkwood. Chesterfield should be commuter with light rail begining at Westport. Arnold could have commuter with light rail beginning around Affton. St. Charles County > commuter with light rail beginning in its older section.



Maybe commuter rail should be applied to Alton and Edwardsville lines?

all it needs is a 3 am stop at uncle bills .... well 4 am - I'dhave to make it home

Interesting - something that's been proposed by several here, I think:

Tuesday afternoon he filed Senate Bill 14. The bill would give the Indiana Department of Transportation authority to do public-private partnerships for passenger and freight rail projects without legislative OK.

Article link: http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a ... 3/BUSINESS

tbspqr wrote:HEY CHESTERFIELD VALLEY IS HOME TO THE WORLDS LARGEST STRIP MALL!!! that is a claim to fame!

I wonder how many stops it would take just to adequately serve potential riders at that shopping center? (One at Target Greatland, one at Wal-Mart, one at Best Buy, and maybe Rev. Jeff Perry could get one at the Family Church down the road?)



Seriously, I think JMedwick best summed up the real reasons why expansion of Metrolink into far West County isn't in the best interests of those that live out there and the system itself. Once you're inside Interstate 270, I think the demand would be there for those that commute to downtown and Clayton, so a line to destinations including Creve Coeur and Westport seems like a sound idea.

Chew this over.



Put all of Metro underground as a subway. While this is being done, Ameren works hand in hand to bury all their lines AND AT&T provides fiber optics to all.



Hey.... nobody said this thread had to have ideas that were practical or possible

If metro could aquire one of those tunneling machines used - after the aquisition expense - is it that costly to just continually dig and put up tunnel? (slight sarcasm - but how much is it really - once the machine has been purchased?)

The costs to do such a project are astronomical. The hardware itself is not the biggest expense. Though I cannot say how much it would cost. The biggest costs are the unknowns. Tunneling is extremly expensive as it depends on the material the ground is made up of, and many things have to be rerouted, and ventilation can be a problem, plus considerations for earthquake prepardness play a larger role. The cut and cover tactic is much more cost effective and allows speedier development as there is much less danger while constructing and much more access for machinery and such.



Cut and cover tactics can still provide a fully underground subway system. Their main problem is that they temporarily destroy the infrastructure in the area.



O and fiber optics are completly unneccesary for the needs of a user for the near future. It is possible to put over a gigabit of ip connectivity through wired materials. Fiber is extrordinarily expensive to install and requires expensive hardware at each end user location. Fiber to the street is all that is needed for the near future, and the price to add fiber will fall before it is neccessary.

Gosh, if I had lived then, I would be getting all nostalgic about all the foreign non-union labor used on the transcontinental railroad tunneling!

clellchatman wrote:
O and fiber optics are completly unneccesary for the needs of a user for the near future. It is possible to put over a gigabit of ip connectivity through wired materials. Fiber is extrordinarily expensive to install and requires expensive hardware at each end user location. Fiber to the street is all that is needed for the near future, and the price to add fiber will fall before it is neccessary.

So, with my sarcasm mode off, I completely agree with you. Fiber to the home (from street) is what I believe the current preference on the coasts and "may" be here also.

1971 Rapid Transit Feasibility study, 100.6 miles of mass transit travelling at grade, subway, and elevated

Sorry if I came off to harsh. I wish all of these things were available also as good options. A subway system with integrated infrastructural development would be absolutly glorious.

Long Range Transit Program 1990 Maximum Load Point Passanger Volumes

Line

Northwest, Corridor E 39,000 Two-Way 24-Hour Volume

West, Corridor C 34,000

Southwest, A 37,000

Kingshighway, II 40,000

Inner Belt, IV 39,000

Northeast, F 17,000

Southeast, H 19,000

Missouri-Illinois Connector 35,000

Kirkwood line 22,000

What the...? Why is this topic titled Metrolink ideas and fantasies? Well, here's mine: There's a HOOTERS AIR--so why not a HOOTERS RAIL?

Resurrectus wrote:What the...? Why is this topic titled Metrolink ideas and fantasies? Well, here's mine: There's a HOOTERS AIR--so why not a HOOTERS RAIL?

I don't want to pluto your metro-link Hooters idea, but I think your Hooters girls concept might work better on metro buses where the ride is, uh, jigglier.

Since we're in St. Louis, wouldn't SHOWME'S RAIL be more appropriate?

I would avoid it if it were a Show Me's Rail Line.

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^ Hey, that's awesome. Really. It looks very similar to the D.C. metro layout. If the nation's capitol had been relocated to the center of the country as once proposed (to avoid sneak attacks from other countries) we might have a chance to build this!

I posted the aformentioned link to the Google Earth / Google Maps representation of my fantasy map.

^ Just realized that this system would be one that everyone could actually use! Truly a pipedream!