urbanSTL

^SC4Mayor,

I'll say that your spitballing is unusually polished and quite pretty and that I don't at all get the Seinfeld reference. But then I never liked Seinfeld enough to bother watching a complete episode. I think I saw most of the sidewalk weed film episode. Saw fragments of a couple of others and decided the mockumentary on the weed was probably better.

the point was that Metro has a professional staff and knows all this stuff, so there is no reason to send it to them and they would be annoyed as was the fire dept when Kramer told them the best route. 

as far as the work done, its great! i love streetmix, its a great tool to play around in. 

pattimagee wrote: ↑

Aug 25, 2020

Anyone want to make a play on a timeline for all of this? And can they appropriate the funds to go to BRT or will that involved the Board of Alderman, Mayor, city vote, etc? 

I feel like it would be an interesting idea to create a UrbanSTL twitter account (@Citizens4STLBRT) to post pro-BRT propaganda information while all of this is going on...

best case 2024-2025 open line. 

dbInSouthCity wrote: ↑

Aug 25, 2020

the point was that Metro has a professional staff and knows all this stuff, so there is no reason to send it to them and they would be annoyed as was the fire dept when Kramer told them the best route. 

as far as the work done, its great! i love streetmix, its a great tool to play around in. 

But, do they? If so, why propose a zig zag light rail route through Downtown that already has connectivity?

I'm not throwing darts.  I'd rather just be educated as to why.

bwcrow1s wrote: ↑

Aug 25, 2020

dbInSouthCity wrote: ↑

Aug 25, 2020

the point was that Metro has a professional staff and knows all this stuff, so there is no reason to send it to them and they would be annoyed as was the fire dept when Kramer told them the best route. 

as far as the work done, its great! i love streetmix, its a great tool to play around in. 

But, do they? If so, why propose a zig zag light rail route through Downtown that already has connectivity?

I'm not throwing darts.  I'd rather just be educated as to why.

Because it’s the biggest center of employment in the City

Metro/Bi-State doesn’t lead planning.

Typically... EastWest Gateway hires a consultant. The consultant then takes the general idea, models travel patterns, considers political pressures (NGA & Downtown) and comes forward with results.

——

Which is why this time should be different. We should get a more legitimate proposal with Bi-State at the table. A proposal that more correctly builds to our current system.

pattimagee wrote: ↑

Aug 25, 2020

Anyone want to make a play on a timeline for all of this? 

That's a good one!

Ebsy wrote: ↑

Aug 26, 2020

pattimagee wrote: ↑

Aug 25, 2020

Anyone want to make a play on a timeline for all of this? 

That's a good one!

As I said above, best case is probably 2025 for open line

The new study will take until 2022
6months to a year of chewing on it
1 year for design
1-2 years for construction

So what the current state and plans for the NS ? and is it now a BRT or still rail based?

The new I-44 bridge over Jefferson isn't tall enough for Metrolink to run under it?

I was told that at the groundbreaking for 2200 LaSalle. I asked about North-South and the developers said they'd be fine with it, but Bill Odell said that the new overpass at Jefferson was too low. MODOT said that it could be replaced if the MetroLink is built but since the plans aren't really finalized, they just didn't do it.

^^There is quite a bit of extra clearance required for the power lines and arms. But I think they are assuming the same setup as the current Metro rail. I'm sure there are in-street trolley cars with a lower profile.

Either way it can't be far off. It's not like they'd need to rebuild the overpass. At most it would require some additional excavation of Jefferson and some utility relocation.

“That bridge is something like $80,000,000” bill Odell. No bill, it’s not. I programmed that project, the bridge isn’t $80,000,0000.

Incredible that they're even STILL working on that thing and 44 still has huge speed pumps on the overpasses.

^I thought they talked about that somewhere. Didn't they say there was underground infrastructure that prevented them going down?

Years and years ago when the Rolling Stones played Faurot Field in Columbia the university ditched out one of the voms at the south end of the stadium so you could drive semis in. At the time it was a temporary measure surfaced with gravel, as I recall. Later on they made it permanent with proper drainage, a concrete surface, and even handrails to protect those of us as had to walk through. At least in theory things like that can be done, but if you have to move utilities it could get expensive. (Mind you, utilities can indeed be moved. That too is possible. It just delays a project and adds expense.)

sc4mayor wrote: ↑

May 04, 2021

Or just build cheaper dedicated lane BRT that could accomplish most all of this without any overpass reconstruction.  If the ridership is there then lines could be upgraded to LRT in the future.
Dedicated lane "gold standard" BRT could do basically what any streetcar could do for a fraction of the cost.  Could cover much more of the city with the initial buildout too...

sc4mayor wrote: ↑

May 04, 2021

Or just build cheaper dedicated lane BRT that could accomplish most all of this without any overpass reconstruction.  If the ridership is there then lines could be upgraded to LRT in the future.

Dedicated lane "gold standard" BRT could do basically what any streetcar could do for a fraction of the cost.  Could cover much more of the city with the initial buildout too...

amen

I have no evidence to support this, but it at least appears that the most recent effort to study N/S MetroLink was never awarded. Mayor Jones didn’t feel the need to continue it? Waiting for infrastructure bill to drop? Not sure. Just really frustrating.

https://www.masstransitmag.com/manageme ... evelopment

It's not going to happen in any of ours lifetimes.