urbanSTL

I haven't read anything new nor did Rahn mention anything to the State representatives (or at least what was reported). Anybody heard something new?



This would be a great economic stimulus if government wants to spend money. Federal and Illinois already have money set aside. Blunt bumps up MoDOTS contribution from the excess in state revenues. Do a design/build contract and construction could probably start pretty soon. The best part, something that stays around for a while and wasn't built in China (my political thought at the moment)!!

Here is what you get for $817 million in Dubai.









Here is the link to the article:



http://gizmodo.com/355499/dubai-buildin ... next-month

haha - I was on Gizmodo reading that about 10 minutes ago and came here to post it, you beat me to it =D>



Anyway that would be pretty awesom in STL, though we might have to scale it down. Having a bridge taller than the arch might detract from the main attraction... or would it complete the second arch that McDonalds has hoped for all along?

That does look sweet, but I think a more practical (although strong and sound) bridge would be fine, then the money left over could go to schools or something.

STLCardsBlues1989 wrote:That does look sweet, but I think a more practical (although strong and sound) bridge would be fine, then the money left over could go to schools or something.

Wasn't our original Bridge going to cost 2.5 times what they are saying this one will cost?

^Dubai 2006 GDP Breakdown:



Wholesale retail trade and repairing services - 22%

Manufacturing - 14%

Construction - 13%

Transport, storage and communication - 13%

Real estate and business services - 11%

Financial corporations - 10%

Oil - 5%

[b]AME Info[/b] wrote:Dubai received 6.5m visitors last year (2006), generating revenue of around $3bn, reported Gulf News. Tourism now provides around 30% of the city's GDP, with the energy and real estate sectors falling back slightly. The ratio of tourists to residents in Dubai is now approaching five to one.

^That is the overall UAE they are talking about (not surprising the CIA wouldn't comprehend the importance of breaking it down by emirate). The individual emirates are city-states and have mostly independent economies. Yes, the rest of the UAE is still very dependent on oil. Dubai and Abu Dhabi are booming, however, and together account for half of the overall UAE GDP and the vast majority of GDP growth.

Dubai builds the ugliest buildings in the world. Personally, I would include that bridge in the "ugly" category too.

You think this is ugly?







BurjDubai.com

No; that one's awsome. Crazy, but awsome.

That's cool. I'd be afraid it'd break off, though.



But I see his point. Sometimes these newer age buildings are really not that attractive.

This is all fine and good, but not pertinent to the discussion here.

TheWayoftheArch wrote:So all we need is a Monarch who controls all the money and a giant conscripted (and very non-union) workforce to get a modern bridge at a budget price.

if only we were Dubai, all of this ^ would already be in place

TheWayoftheArch wrote:We aren't Dubai, and never will be

Thank God, although I'd love to visit.

They're just building today's pyramids. The rich sultans want to leave their mark for eternity. Too bad, because there are better ways to spend it.



By the way, "A recent analysis by East-West Gateway Council of Governments shows traffic growth in the eight-county region slowed to an average annual rate of less than 1 percent between 2000 and 2006.



That's down from 2.3 percent average growth in the 1990s, and 4.3 percent growth in the 1980s."



But it's said that this shouldn't slow planning for the new bridge.



More here: http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/s ... enDocument

Sources: Agreement reached on new bi-state bridge

By Elisa Crouch

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

02/25/2008





Mississippi and Illinois leaders have reached an agreement for the construction of a new Mississippi River bridge, the Post-Dispatch has learned.



An announcement is in the works for Thursday, sources in Missouri confirmed Monday. In Illinois, sources with knowledge of the negotiations won't confirm when the agreement will be formally presented to the public.



It has been more than two years since Congress authorized $239 million for a new bridge, which would redirect Interstate 70 traffic from the congested Poplar Street Bridge. Officials from both sides of the river, however, struggled to agree on the scale, cost and financing of the project.



One stumbling block was overcome last spring, when Missouri officials dropped their insistence on tolls as a way to finance the bridge. Illinois was adamantly opposed to tolls.





Once estimated to cost nearly $1 billion, the budget for the planned bridge is $306.2 million, according to a copy of the agreement obtained by the Post-Dispatch. The bridge will carry two lanes each direction and touch down north of the Edwards Jones Dome.



An April letter from Missouri Transportation Director Pete Rahn to the Illinois transportation secretary suggested that tolls could be eliminated if bridge plans were scaled down to four lanes, from eight, with the possibility of future expansion.



Sources said the proposal re-energized talks between the states.



Link

brickandmortar wrote:
Once estimated to cost nearly $1 billion, the budget for the planned bridge is $306.2 million

Only two lanes in both directions - WHY BUILD IT.



Dumb!